Is it possible to buy-out redundancy or other terms of employment in a TUPE transfer situation? What process applies and how might you structure the buy-out?

This is tricky territory indeed! Without meaning to fence sit, we recommend that you to seek specific legal advice on your options for dealing with this situation. Basically, it is very difficult to change an employee’s terms of employment if the reason for the change is linked to a TUPE transfer. This is because changes that are proven to be linked to the transfer are void under TUPE.

To effectively make changes to employment terms before or after a TUPE transfer, the sole or principal reason for the change must be either (a) a reason unconnected with the TUPE transfer; or (b) a reason connected with the transfer which is an economic, technical or organisational reason (an “ETO reason”).