Transfer of undertakings: Absence of transfer of employees cannot be determinative

The question of whether the whole or a majority of a transferee contractor's workforce is taken on by the putative transferor cannot be determinative of whether or not there has been a relevant transfer of an undertaking under the EC Business Transfer Directive and the domestic Transfer of Undertakings Regulations, holds the EAT in Cheeseman and others v R Brewer Contracts Ltd and Onyx (UK) Ltd v Cheeseman and others 30.11.00 EAT 909/98 and 952/98. Offering perhaps the most coherent distillation of the law in this area in the post-Süzen era, Mr Justice Lindsay confirms that the transfer of staff is merely one of a number of matters to be considered in the predominantly factual enquiry to be undertaken by national tribunals.