Fears are growing that proposed changes to employment legislation could lead to lawyers being transferred to another law firm when clients switch adviser.

Consultation on proposed amendments to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (TUPE) moots extending existing laws - which protect employment rights when businesses are sold or services are outsourced - to groups of professionals that work mainly for a single client.


The consultation paper suggests that the government is prepared to consider an exemption for professional advisers such as accountants and solicitors.


However, Sarah Linton, head of employment at the London office of US firm Bryan Cave, said she had been told by the government that it was looking to drop the exemption because it was impossible to draft.


She said: 'The intention of TUPE is surely to provide a level playing field for everyone - professionals included. When the new TUPE regulations come into force in October, professionals may therefore find themselves on the end of automatic transfers.'


Dr John McMullen, solicitor and professor of labour law at Leeds University, who is coordinating the Law Society's response, said: 'I personally don't see how [an exemption] can be justified and why white-collar workers should receive treatment different from blue-collar workers.'


Gareth Brahams, an employment partner at City firm Lewis Silkin, said solicitors would welcome clarification. 'It has, for many years, been arguable that if a law firm can show that it assigned a team of people to a particular client and those people worked only for that client - or close to exclusively - then TUPE applies to those people,' he explained.


The Department for Trade and Industry said it recognised the concerns but could not come to a decision until the consultation closes next month.