Ms J Landels v Dan Dan Diner Ltd — 2023

Ms J Landels brought a TUPE claim against Dan Dan Diner Ltd and Mr McKay. By the hearing she was no longer pursuing a redundancy payment and accepted that her employment had transferred to the first respondent, so the tribunal focused on whether the transferor had complied with regulation 13 of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. The transfer itself was conceded, and the tribunal found that the business had been sold as a going concern and retained its identity after the transfer.

The tribunal found that the second respondent had told the claimant orally that the business was being sold, that the transfer date would be 1 August 2022, and that there were no measures envisaged by the transferee. It also found that the claimant had misunderstood earlier discussions about redundancy and believed she could choose between redundancy pay and working for the new employer. The tribunal accepted that no written TUPE information had been given.

On that basis the tribunal held that regulation 13(5) required the information to be communicated in writing, so oral communication alone was not sufficient. It made a declaration that the second respondent had failed to comply with the duty to inform and awarded appropriate compensation of £256.50, assessed as two weeks' pay at £9.50 per hour. Applying the regulation 15 approach and the authorities it cited, the tribunal treated the breach as technical but material and held the first and second respondents jointly and severally liable under regulation 15(9).