The “special circumstances” defence
[ch 12: page 375]Under the TUPE regulations, an employer who fails to inform and/or consult adequately may be able to rely on special circumstances that made it “not reasonably practicable” to perform the duty, as long as the employer can show it took all reasonably practicable steps in the circumstances. The principles and the cases on what amounts to “special circumstances” in a collective redundancy setting apply equally here (see Chapter 11: Redundancy).