Question: “Although the Suzen decision has been described as involving a shift of emphasis or a clarification of the law, nothing was said in Suzen which casts doubt on the correctness of the interpretation of the Directive in… earlier decisions… The importance of Suzen [has], I think, been overstated”.
Analyse the law relating to transfers of undertakings. To what extent do you agree with the statement of Mummery LJ?
Answer: At common law, a contract of employment was a personal contract between the employer and the employee; when that relationship ceased, the contract of employment came to an end. Thus if a business was sold, the purchaser had the right to choose whom to employ and the employee had the right to choose whom he would serve. It can be seen therefore that the sale or transfer of any business, under the common law, resulted in the termination of any existing contract of employment.
In 1977, this common law situation was threatened when the Acquired Rights Directive was passed. Its aims were, inter alia, essentially to ensure that when an employer transfers his business to another employer, the transferor and the transferee shall inform the employees affected and to ensure that the latter’s contracts, along with agreed terms and conditions, are transferred from the first to the second empl...(short extract)
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- Subject: Law
- Course: Employment Law
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 74%
- Words: 3499
- Date submitted: January 27, 2009
- Date written: April, 1999
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 396
