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Section 20K provides that where a change occurs in the ownership of a business and in connexion with that change, but prior thereto, an employee is dismissed, the employee shall not be entitled to a severance payment if the new owner, with the agreement of the employee, renews his contract of employment or re-engages him on the same or similar terms to his existing contract or if the new owner makes an offer of employment which is unreasonably refused by the employee. The operation of sec- tion 20K is not affected by the fact that the previous owner of the business and the new owner are associated companies. Further- more, in determining whether the criteria of redundancy exist for the purposes of entitlement to a severance payment, regard may be had not only to the employer company but also to the business of any "associated companies" as if they together constituted one business.
Section 20M provides that, where by operation of law there is an implied or constructive termination of a contract of employ- ment arising from any act on the part of or any event affecting the employer, that termination shall be treated as termination by the employer. In such a case, if the employee's contract is not renewed and he is not re-engaged under a new contract, he will be taken to be dismissed by reason of redundancy if the criteria for redundancy specified in section 20C are satisfied.
Section 20N provides that, in the event of the death of an employer or employee, Parts I and II respectively of the new Third Schedule (added by clause 4 of the Bill) will apply.
The time within which an employee must claim a severance payment is laid down in section 200 and section 20P deals with the time for and manner of payment of a severance payment.
An employer who makes a severance payment, otherwise than in accordance with a decision of the Labour Tribunal, must give the employee a written statement showing how it has been calculated (section 20Q). Failure to comply with this require- ment is an offence.
Section 20R provides that an employee shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy.
Part I of the Third Schedule, relating to the death of an employer, provides that where the employment of an employee is continued by the personal representative of the deceased em-