Monday 17 February 2003

New TUPE Regs - Further Consultation

Following the consultation back in September 2001, the government has announced a period of further consultation.

The long-awaited draft TUPE regulations are now being promised to us in "the first half of this year", with a view to consultation enabling a vote in parliament in autumn. The DTI state that the current anticipated date for implementation of the new TUPE regulations is Spring 2004.

The reforms are said to:

- apply TUPE more comprehensively to service contracting operations
involving labour-intensive services such as office cleaning,
catering, security guarding and refuse collection (while leaving
unaffected the position in relation to "professional services" such
as accountancy, consultancy and legal advice);

- ensure that the new employer is better informed of the ongoing
employment rights of the employees he or she takes on; and

- improve the way TUPE operates when insolvent businesses are sold,
to help promote the 'rescue culture' and save businesses and jobs
that would otherwise be lost.

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