TUPE and contract change


Any change to a contract term that is made in breach of TUPE is void. This is the case whether or not employees have agreed to the change, and even if the employer has “paid” for the variation, for example, with a pay rise or other inducement. This is because EU law does not allow individual employees to give up their statutory protections under the Acquired Rights Directive (Wilson v St Helens Borough Council [1998] IRLR 706). 



Following changes to TUPE made in 2014, in England, Wales and Scotland (but not Northern Ireland) the law treats changes to contract terms differently depending on whether or not the relevant term is “incorporated from a collective agreement” (regulation 4(5B) TUPE, as amended). The difference is explained below.