Dear Claudine,

I have been working for a computer company for seventeen years and have just been informed that the business has been transferred to a new proprietor. The changeover will take place next week, and we have been told that there will be changes to our Contracts of Employment. We would like your advice as to what rights we have, and whether our employers can do this at such short notice.

Aine

Dear Aine,

Thank you for your e-mail. Firstly, as the business will continue and it has been sold as a going concern, legislation protects the interests of existing employees at the time of the changeover. This means that your new employer must honour the existing Contracts of Employment of all employees, which includes honouring your existing rates of pay, hours of work, annual leave entitlements etc. The principal legislation is the Transfer of Undertakings Directive 2001/23/EC, EC (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003, and Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act 2006. The above legislation affords protection to employees by providing that your previous or new employer are prohibited from using the fact of the sale as a justification for dismissing existing employees unless there are valid economic, technical or organisational grounds justifying changes in the workforce. Dismissal on any of these grounds is a redundancy and provided each of you have been employed for at last two years continuous service, you may be entitled to a redundancy lump sum. Employees, however, may challenge the justification of any of the changes proposed by their employers on any of the above grounds in an unfair dismissal claim. Under the Regulations 2003, your employer is obliged to inform you about a proposed transfer of business and about the implications of the transfer for you at least 30 days before the transfer takes place. Also, the 2006 Act provides a general right to information and consultation for employees with their employer on matters which directly affect them. This places an onus on employers to inform and consult with their employees on any decisions which may cause substantial changes in the work organisation and/or their existing contractual obligations. If you are dismissed because of a transfer of business, you may bring a claim for Unfair Dismissal challenging the grounds of your dismissal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal. If alternatively, your terms and conditions of employment are changed unfavourably as a result of the transfer, you may bring a claim to a Rights Commissioner under the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations. As your employer has failed to inform and consult with you in relation to the transfer of business, you may bring a complaint to a Rights Commissioner under the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations and Appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.

With Every Good Wish

Claudine