Transfer of workplace (business transfer)

A transfer of workplace occurs when a workplace or part of it passes to another employer through a legal transaction such as a sale, lease or merger. Employment contracts existing on the transfer date pass automatically to the transferee with all rights and obligations.

The transfer alone does not give employees just cause to resign, and seniority is calculated without interruption from the original hiring date. The transferor remains jointly liable with the transferee, for a statutory period, for debts that arose before the transfer and were due at that date; for severance purposes, liability for the transferor's own period continues.

Mere changes of company name are often confused with genuine transfers. Terminating and rehiring employees to reset seniority is ineffective: continuity of service is preserved throughout the entire chain of transfers.