A TUPE transfer take place where your employer transfers part of its organisation or services to another employer.Your employment rights are protected under TUPE transfer in the UK.

 

There is a procedure that your employer must follow, such as informing employees about the transfer and consulting on that may take effect, such as a change of work location or working hours. There is no set time limit for informing and consulting employees, but all required information must be provided long enough in advance of the transfer for the employees to discuss it with the employer.

​

If the transfer procedure is not carried out correctly, you may be able to make an Employment Tribunal claim and receive compensation of up to 13 weeks' earnings. Upon transfer, your old employment contract continues to apply, your terms and conditions of employment automatically transfer to the new employer, and your employment does not end.

​

If you don't want to move to a new employer, you can refuse, but you usually lose the right to claim redundancy pay in or unfair dismissal. Your new employer can only make changes to your terms and conditions because of the transfer if either:

 

• They improve your terms and conditions.

​

• There is an 'economic, technical or organisational' reason involving a change in the workforce, for example your organisation needs restructuring. These reasons include essential cost-saving, using new processes or equipment, or restructuring of the organisation.

 

The law gives some protection to your terms and conditions for an indefinite period. For example, if your new employer wants to change your terms and conditions 10 years later, they’d still need a valid reason for the change that is unrelated to the transfer. Before the transfer, your current employer cannot make you redundant if your new employer asks them to - this would be considered an unfair dismissal.

 

After the transfer, your new employer can only make redundancies if there is a genuine redundancy reason and a need to make changes to the workforce, such as a change in the location of work, a reduction in the number of employees or too many employees transferred in for the same role.