Company buyout and TUPE

zacepi

Could any employment experts offer a little guidance?

A company - let's call it Bluetrees Ltd. was bought. The shares are now owned by one person - Mr. Jones - who is now the sole director of Bluetrees Ltd. No contracts or anything else were changed. Previous directors of Bluetrees Ltd. are now managers.

Mr. Jones also owns Redtrees Ltd. and is its sole director, also in the tree industry.

Redtrees Ltd has lots of different policies than Bluetrees Ltd. TUPE didn't apply as Bluetrees Ltd. continued as it was. Employees are now paid by Redtrees.

Redtrees now want to rebrand Bluetrees into Redtrees, an introduce their policies.

What are the implications for TUPE - will it apply - is there some time limit where TUPE can be disregarded?
Also if new contracts are issued and some employees don't sign, what can Redtrees do practically?

getmore4less

Bluetrees Ltd can change contacts through consulting as they have always done.

Bentley125

If they would like to change policies or contracts then they can but they would need to go through a consultation process.

New contracts would then need to be signed by the employers.

steampowered

TUPE does not apply in a situation where the shares have been bought (absent very exceptional circumstances).

If the business is being transferred from Bluetrees Ltd into an entirely different company, TUPE would apply in respect of that transfer.

If Bluetrees Ltd is simpy changing its name and rebranding, but is the same legal entity, TUPE would not apply.

Assuming that TUPE doesn't apply here, the usual legal rules on amendments to employment contracts apply. These essentially say that you will be bound by changes to the contract, regardless of whether you sign the new contract or not, if you don't object to them within a reasonable period of time.