Collective agreements and union recognition 




Collective agreements with a recognised union transfer under regulation 5 of TUPE. They are treated as if they were made with the new employer.
Important changes made to TUPE in January 2014 have significantly undermined the legal protection of collectively negotiated contract terms provided by TUPE. The changes affect all transfers on or after 31 January 2014 and are explained on page 444.


Under regulation 6 of TUPE, union recognition transfers to the new employer as long as the group of transferring employees retains a distinct identity. Otherwise, recognition by the transferee must be negotiated. Most recognition agreements are voluntary, meaning that they can be varied or rescinded by the new employer after the transfer (regulation 6(2)(b), TUPE). 




It is automatically unfair to dismiss or target for redundancy employees who are trying to organise recognition in their new workplace. See Chapter 5.