CJEC gives its opinion on collective agreement’s fate in case of transfers of undertakings

In the event of a transfer of undertakings, even if the employment contract mentions that the employment relationship is governed by a specific collective agreement, the transferee is concerned by the collective agreement in force at the time of transfer but not by future collective agreements in which he is not involved. (Ref. 06242)
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A German employee asked the court to rule on the application of a collective agreement concerning salaries, which came into force after the transfer of undertakings where he has been working. But the transferee was not a member of the employer’s organisation which had signed the collective agreement. The German court of appeal referred the questions for a preliminary ruling.

The essential question was : when an undertaking is transferred and an employment contract refers to a collective agreemen

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