Responsibilities to employees if you buy or sell a business

On 6 April 2006, the revised Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (the "2006 Regulations") (S.I. 2006/246) and the Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (the "SPC Regulations") (S.R. 2006 No. 177) came into operation.

Northern Ireland TUPE legislation

The legislation.gov.uk website presents the legislation in detail:

• Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006
• Service Provision Change (Protection of Employment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

The 2006 Regulations made UK-wide provision for the treatment of employees, and related matters, on the transfer of a business or undertaking, so that when all or part of a business is bought or sold, the terms and conditions of the employees who transfer in the sale may be preserved.

The 2006 Regulations also implemented certain service provision change elements, but within those regulations, these elements apply in Great Britain only. Separate regulations, namely the SPC Regulations, were required for Northern Ireland, as Great Britain did not have the necessary powers to legislate on this matter for Northern Ireland.

(Please note, the 2006 TUPE Regulations were amended in January 2014 by the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/16). These amendments only apply to Great Britain and do not extend to Northern Ireland.)