The leading legislation protecting the rights of Irish employees in this way is the European Communities
(Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003.1 These apply to any transfer
of an undertaking, business or part of a business from one employer to another employer as a result of a legal transfer (including the assignment or forfeiture of a lease) or merger. They have been in operation since April 11, 2003. The 2003 Regulations implement Council Directive 2001/23/EC (“the 2001 Directive”)
and revoke and replace earlier Regulations, which had been in force since November 3, 1980 and December 21, 2000 respectively

The regulations provide that effective from the date of hand over the purchasing company are responsible for and must honour the existing terms and conditions of employment that existed prior to transfer and in certain circumstances the employees effected must be notified of the transfer and consulted with.

If consultation is not provided the employees can make a direct complaint to the Labour Court to impede the transfer.

In certain cases a consultation group must be convened with the employees and this process is enshrined in law.

The transfer of business does not break the continuity of service of the employees and is reckonable for redundnacy calculations.

In certain circumstances both the seller and purchaser can be jointly responsible to the employee in the context of an unfair dismissal or a breach of health and safety regulations.

The key is consultation with all the employees (and not just the affected ones) and full disclosure of the new business requirements.