Oakland v Wellswood (Yorkshire) Limited - The unresolved question of whether TUPE applies to administration sales

The Court of Appeal considered whether an employee formerly employed by an insolvent transferor company had sufficient continuous employment to mount a claim of unfair dismissal against the acquiring company.

The main points to note are as follows:

• The appeal was allowed;
• The case was, however, decided on the basis of a separate employment point, rather than, as was hoped, on the interpretation of the TUPE Regulations;
• No further guidance was provided by the Court of Appeal on the application of Regulation 8 and questions regarding the scope of this Regulation remain unanswered;
• The decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal on this issue remains good law;
• Caution should still, therefore, be exercised when considering the employment aspects of any sale on insolvency.

For a more detailed analysis of the judgment, click here.

Lawyers Nick Moser, Neil Smyth