Firm facts for unions
Page 7
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RECOGNISED trades unions must a business changes hands, except through a shares transfer.
The new regulations apply where the whole or part of a sole trader's business, or a partnership is sold as a going concern, where two companies cease to exist and combine to form a third, or where the part of whole of a business is bought by another company, provided that the new company buys the assets of the other.
The new or old employer should inform trades union representatives of the affected employees that a transfer is going to take place, and should say when and why. He should detail the legal, economic, and social implications of such a transfer, and should indicate what changes affect employees.
These changes also mean that from May 1 employees of the old company automatically become the employees of the new business, as if their contracts of employment were originally made with the new employer.