New guidance on data protection issues in TUPE transfers
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published guidance that aims to help companies comply with their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 when providing information about their employees under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE).
Under TUPE, transferor employers must provide to the transferee a range of information about the employees to be transferred, including details about their identity, their terms and conditions of employment and any disciplinary or legal action brought in the two years before the transfer. These requirements were newly introduced in the 2006 Regulations, giving rise to employers’ concerns over how to comply with both TUPE and data protection requirements.
The guidance highlights that, although such disclosure is permitted under the Data Protection Act 1998 in order to comply with a legal obligation, care must be taken that the data is both used and handled in the correct way.
As well as answering employers’ potential questions on issues such as transfers where TUPE does not apply, the guidance sets out good practice when considering data protection in the context of transfers.
The guidance can be accessed at:
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/gpn
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