You won the contract. Now you've inherited someone else's staff. Here's what TUPE actually means.
TUPE is one of those acronyms that turns a routine deal into a minefield. You buy a business, win a contract, or bring a service back in-house, and suddenly you've inherited other people's employees on their existing terms, with legal duties you didn't know you had. This guide explains what TUPE is, when it bites, who transfers, and what you actually have to do. In plain English, from people who handle these transfers for a living.
TUPE in one line: the people come with the work.
TUPE protects employees when the work they do changes hands.
TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. When it applies, the affected employees automatically transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions, with their continuous service intact, as if their contracts had always been with the new employer. You can't simply put them on worse terms because they've moved.
When TUPE applies, the affected staff move automatically to the new employer. You don't re-hire them or interview them. They arrive with the contract you won or the business you bought.
Transferring employees keep their existing terms and conditions. Pay, holiday, notice and the rest move across unchanged. You generally can't water them down because of the transfer.
Their length of service counts as if it had always been with you. That affects redundancy pay, notice periods and unfair-dismissal rights from day one, not from the transfer date.
Two situations trigger TUPE. One of them catches people out.
Whether TUPE applies to a given situation is a legal judgement, not a guess. The detail matters, and the cost of assuming it doesn't apply when it does is high.
When a business, or part of one, moves from one owner to another as a going concern. Buying a company's trade and assets is the classic example.
When a service is outsourced to a contractor, brought back in-house, or moved from one contractor to another. Win a cleaning, catering, security or maintenance contract and you may inherit the previous provider's staff. This is the one that catches people out.
TUPE either applies or it doesn't, and that turns on the facts. Assuming it doesn't apply when it does is the single most expensive mistake in this area, so it's worth checking rather than guessing.
The employees "assigned" to the work that's changing hands.
The employees who transfer are those assigned to the part of the business or the service that's changing hands, immediately before the transfer. "Assigned" means genuinely working in that part, not just occasionally touching it. Someone who spends most of their time on the transferring contract is likely in scope. Someone who helps out now and then probably isn't. Working out who's assigned, and who's in or out, is one of the trickiest parts of any TUPE situation, and one of the most fought-over.
Five obligations, whichever side of the deal you're on.
If you're involved in a TUPE transfer, as the outgoing employer (the transferor) or the incoming one (the transferee), you carry real obligations. Fall short on the inform-and-consult duty and the penalty is up to 13 weeks' gross pay per affected employee. That adds up fast.
TUPE failures come from two places. Both end in claims.
Failures usually come from assuming TUPE doesn't apply when it does, or applying it sloppily: missing the consultation, botching the ELI, or trying to harmonise terms too soon. Our named HR and employment-law specialists handle TUPE transfers from both sides. You get the same expert throughout, not a different adviser each time you call.
We work out whether your sale, contract win or in-house move triggers TUPE before you commit, so you price the deal knowing what you're really taking on.
We identify which employees are genuinely assigned to the transferring work, so the list of who transfers stands up if it's challenged later.
We run the inform-and-consult process and handle the ELI on the right timetable, keeping you clear of the up-to-13-weeks'-pay penalty and out of tribunal.
The HR and employment-law specialist you'll actually work with.
You get one named specialist who handles your TUPE transfer from start to finish, on either side of the deal. They learn the situation once and stay with it, so when you ring mid-transfer, they already know your case.
“When you have a problem you need to speak to the same person who can help you from that initial phone call all the way through to a resolution. My job at Spectra is to be part of your business and provide you with commercial and practical HR advice. I deal with clients over the phone and in person, and when necessary I can carry out your internal meetings, giving you the peace of mind that what you are doing is the best for you and your business.”
Book a free HR reviewCommon TUPE questions
What is TUPE?
When does TUPE apply?
Who transfers under TUPE?
What are my obligations under TUPE?
What happens if I get TUPE wrong?
Can I change employees' terms after a TUPE transfer?
Still not sure whether TUPE applies to your situation?
Tell us what's happening, a sale, a contract win, a service coming in-house, and a named employment-law specialist will give you a straight answer. Book a free HR review, no script and no obligation.