Transfer of undertakings: Change in contractor not a business transfer

The EC Business Transfers Directive does not apply to a change in the contractor providing contracted-out services, unless there is a concomitant transfer of significant tangible or intangible assets from the existing contractor to the new contractor, or the new contractor takes over a major part of the workforce (in terms of the numbers and skills of employees) assigned to the performance of the contract by its predecessor, rules the European Court of Justice in Süzen v Zehnacker Gebäudereinigung GmbH Krankenhausservice and another [1997] IRLR 255.

Mrs Süzen was employed by a cleaning company ("Zehnacker") as a cleaner at a private, church-run secondary school near Bonn, under the terms of a cleaning contract concluded between the company and the school.