TUPE rights: what a transfer means for your job, pay and terms

If the business you work for is sold, or the contract you work on moves to a new provider, your first question is usually the same: what happens to me? In the UK the answer is governed by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, known everywhere as TUPE. Its core idea is simple: when a business or service changes hands, employees move with it, on the same terms, as if their employment had never been interrupted.

When does TUPE apply?

There are two kinds of relevant transfer:

• A business transfer. All or part of a business is sold or merged. The classic example is a company selling a division; the staff doing that work transfer to the buyer.
• A service provision change. Work is outsourced, brought back in-house, or moved from one contractor to another, for example cleaning, catering, IT support or security contracts changing hands.

TUPE does not apply to a pure sale of shares (the employer stays the same legal entity), and it can be disputed in borderline cases, which is one reason transfers generate so much argument.

What transfers with you?

If you are assigned to the business or service being transferred, your employment transfers automatically on the transfer date:

• Your contract and terms: pay, hours, holiday entitlement, contractual bonus and commission arrangements, and your job itself.
• Your continuity of employment: your start date with the old employer counts, so qualifying periods for redundancy pay and unfair dismissal carry over.
• Most rights and liabilities under the contract, including outstanding claims against your old employer.
• Collective agreements and, where a recognised union exists, the recognition arrangements.

Occupational pension schemes are the big exception: the old employer's pension obligations do not fully transfer, though the new employer must provide a minimum level of pension provision instead.

What your employer must do before the transfer

Both the old and new employer must inform and consult affected employees (usually through representatives) about the transfer, when it will happen, why, and any measures they envisage taking that will affect staff, such as restructuring. There is no fixed consultation period in law, but it must happen long enough before the transfer to be meaningful. Failing to inform and consult is itself a tribunal claim worth up to 13 weeks' gross pay per employee, and both employers can be held jointly liable for it.

Can the new employer change your terms?

Only in narrow circumstances. A change to your contract is void if the sole or principal reason for it is the transfer itself, unless there is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce (an ETO reason, typically a genuine reorganisation affecting numbers or functions) or the contract itself allows the variation. Harmonising your terms with the new employer's existing staff is not an ETO reason on its own. Day-one demands to sign a worse contract "because everyone here is on these terms" should be resisted and taken advice on.

Dismissal and redundancy around a transfer

A dismissal is automatically unfair if the sole or principal reason is the transfer, again unless there is an ETO reason. Where the transfer genuinely means fewer roles are needed, redundancies can be lawful, but the usual fairness rules apply: genuine selection, consultation, and statutory redundancy pay based on your full continuous service, as our redundancy pay guide explains. Be wary of the old employer dismissing staff the day before completion to make the deal attractive; liability for that dismissal usually transfers to the buyer.

Can you refuse to transfer?

Yes, you can object, but understand the consequence: objecting generally ends your employment on the transfer date with no dismissal and no right to claim redundancy or unfair dismissal, unless the transfer would involve a substantial change in working conditions to your material detriment (for example a significant relocation), in which case you can treat yourself as dismissed and may have a claim. Objecting is rarely the best move without advice.

What to do if a transfer is announced

1. Ask for the information in writing: who is transferring, when, and whether any measures are planned.

2. Keep your contract, handbook and payslips together; they define what the new employer inherits.

3. Do not sign a new contract on the spot. Take it away and get it checked.

4. If you are told you are redundant, dismissed, or being moved onto worse terms, get advice immediately, because tribunal time limits still run, currently three months less one day and moving to six months under the Employment Rights Act 2025 from October 2026.

TUPE disputes are technical and the timing traps are real. Match My Solicitor can connect you with an employment solicitor who handles transfers, redundancies and unfair dismissal claims, starting with a free enquiry. If your transfer is turning into a dismissal conversation, our unfair dismissal guide and employment tribunal guide explain the road ahead.