The importance of understanding the economic entity in a TUPE situation

For there to be a business transfer under TUPE there must be an ‘economic entity’ that retains its identity post-transfer.

To assess what amounts to an economic entity, the nature of the business activities needs to be understood.  In a labour-intensive business, such as cleaning, the transfer of the employees will be vital for TUPE to apply, however, for a business more heavily reliant on other assets such as land or equipment, the transfer of these will be the important factors.  This is always a question of fact for the Tribunal.

This point arose in the ECJ case of Securitas v ICTS Portugal.  In this case, Securitas took over security services from ICTS.  ICTS engaged security guards who were responsible for monitoring the entry and exit of persons and goods, by means of video surveillance devices. ICTS also provided them with uniforms and radio equipment.  Securitas took on the equipment involved in the work but refused to take on the employees and the question arose as to whether this prevented TUPE from applying.

The ECJ, deciding the point under Portugal’s Labour Code, reiterated the above principles and returned the case to the court to determine the matter on the facts.  It is worth noting, that one of the key questions for the ECJ in this case was whether the transfer of a service such as this could amount to a transfer of an undertaking, a point not in contention under English law by virtue of service provision changes being expressly covered under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.