TUPE solicitors Manchester | Transfers and outsourcing

When a business is sold, or a contract for services moves from one provider to another, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) usually move the staff across with it. Your job, your pay and your length of service go with you. We advise employees who are being transferred and employers on both sides of a transfer, across England and Wales.

Key points

Your contract transfers automatically to the new employer on the same terms, with your continuous service.
A dismissal because of the transfer is automatically unfair.
Your employer must inform, and often consult, employee representatives before the transfer.
Failure to inform and consult can cost up to 13 weeks' pay for each affected employee.

When does TUPE apply?

There are two kinds of transfer.

A business transfer: a business, or an identifiable part of one, is sold or moved and keeps its identity afterwards.
A service provision change: work is outsourced, brought back in-house or moved from one contractor to another, and there was an organised group of employees whose main job was that work.

A sale of shares in a company is not a TUPE transfer, because the employer stays the same.

What transfers

Everyone assigned to the business or the service transfers, with their existing terms: pay, hours, holiday, job title and continuous service. So does liability for things the old employer did, such as unpaid wages or a discrimination claim. Occupational pension rights for old age do not transfer in full, although the new employer must offer a minimum level of pension provision.

Can my terms be changed?

A change to your contract is void if the reason for it is the transfer. Changes are allowed where the reason is an economic, technical or organisational reason involving a change in the workforce, where your contract already permits the change, or where the change is to your benefit and you agree.

Dismissal and redundancy

If the main reason for a dismissal is the transfer, it is automatically unfair, though you still need the usual qualifying service to claim. A dismissal for an economic, technical or organisational reason involving a change in the workforce, such as a genuine redundancy after two workforces are merged, can be fair if a proper process is followed.

Information and consultation

Before the transfer, the employer must tell representatives of the affected employees that the transfer is happening, when and why, what it means for staff, and whether any measures are planned. If measures are planned, it must consult. Since 1 July 2024, employers with fewer than 50 employees, and any employer transferring fewer than 10 employees, can consult staff directly where there are no existing representatives. A tribunal can award up to 13 weeks' actual pay per employee for a failure, and both employers can be liable.

Can I refuse to transfer?

You can object, but your employment then ends on the transfer date and you are treated as having resigned, usually with no right to redundancy pay or to claim unfair dismissal. The exception is where the transfer involves a substantial change in your working conditions to your material detriment. Take advice before you object.

How we work

For employees we check whether TUPE applies, what you are entitled to and whether any proposed change or dismissal is lawful. For employers we advise on whether a deal or contract change is caught, prepare the employee liability information and the consultation, and deal with claims afterwards.

What it costs

We assess your case first and agree how you will pay, and what it will cost, before any work starts. A first consultation is £100 for half an hour or £180 for an hour. Typical costs for a tribunal claim are on our fees page.

Questions people ask

Do I keep my length of service after a TUPE transfer?

Yes. Your continuous service carries over, so rights that depend on it, such as redundancy pay, are worked out from your original start date.

Can the new employer cut my pay?

Not because of the transfer. A change made for that reason is void unless it falls within the limited exceptions.

Can I be made redundant after a transfer?

Yes, where there is a genuine economic, technical or organisational reason involving a change in the workforce and a fair process. A dismissal simply because of the transfer is automatically unfair.

Does TUPE apply when a cleaning or security contract changes hands?

Usually, if there is an organised group of employees whose main job is that contract and the work carries on in much the same way.

What if my employer did not consult us?

Affected employees or their representatives can claim up to 13 weeks' pay each. The claim must be brought within the tribunal time limit, after contacting Acas.