Sector level collective agreements under new TUPE

The 2014 Regulations change the law on the effect of sector or industry level collective bargaining for transfers on or after 31 January 2014. The effect of this change is that future employees whose contracts are outsourced will no longer benefit from improvements to pay and other terms and conditions negotiated at sector or industry level, unless the new employer is party to the collective bargaining for the new terms.

Employees whose employment was outsourced before this date will be unaffected by this change.

Regulation 4A of new TUPE says that:

• Where a contract term incorporates provisions of collective agreements “as may be agreed from time to time”, any provision that is agreed and comes into force after the date of transfer will not bind the transferee unless the transferee is a party to the collective bargaining process for agreeing that term.

• Instead, the contract of employment will take effect “as if it does not incorporate” that collectively agreed term.