Transfer of undertakings/transactions

The regulations introduced by virtue of the European Transfer of Undertakings Directive play an important role in various areas of employment law. They concern operations or parts of operations which are to be sold or bought, or simply certain services which used to be rendered internally and are now to be outsourced.
 
It should always be kept in mind that wherever the operation or its part is deemed to be transferred, this might bring about major consequences for the transferee. Unclear issues, such as which employees and, first of all, how many the buyer has to take over, as well as the conditions of the takeover, should be settled in advance and, if necessary, taken into consideration during the negotiations of the sales agreement. It is important to gain legal clarity based on an information letter duly drafted by the employees affected by the transfer, specifying which of them do not object to the transfer of their employment relationship to the buyer.