When are dismissals made in connection with a TUPE transfer?

The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision in the case of CAB Automotive Limited v Blake and others concerned the dismissal of numerous employees after their employer went into administration.

The case reinforced the existing position that where an administrator carries out dismissals with a view to making a business more attractive to a potential purchaser, it is likely that such dismissals will be deemed to be in connection with the TUPE transfer (if, of course, the sale of the business amounts to a TUPE transfer).

The result of a dismissal being in connection with a TUPE transfer is that it will be automatically unfair, unless it is established that the dismissal was for an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce (in which case, it may be a fair dismissal).

The EAT relied heavily on the decision in Morris v John Grose Group Limited (1998), and, in particular, re-iterated that a dismissal can be deemed to be in connection with TUPE (and, therefore, automatically unfair) even if an identifiable purchaser is not yet on the scene.