European Offshoring Laws

Under the European Transfer of Undertakings for the Protection of Employees (TUPE) regulations, companies that offshore outsource existing in-house agents or outsourcers that decide to move some or all of their operations outside of Europe must negotiate with the affected agents to transfer their individual work contracts.

Settlements under TUPE include buying call center agents out or, in more extreme cases, offering to pay them to work offshore at U.K. wages. Once settlements are reached, that still may not be the end of the matter. Some employees are now suing to get their jobs back.

It is important to note that the TUPE law does not affect companies that plan to offshore outsource to supplement existing call centers or outsourcers adding capacity offshore.