TUPE transfer UK: what changes and what cannot

A TUPE transfer moves your employment to a new employer automatically, on the terms you already have. Your contract, your pay, your holiday, your notice period and your start date all come with you, and the new employer cannot cut any of them for the reason that the transfer happened.

That protection is wider than most people expect. It has three real limits: your pension, the service you need before you can bring a claim, and what it costs you to refuse.

You usually find out in a session booked with no agenda, or in an email that uses the word "exciting". Your employer is being bought, or the contract your team works on has gone to a different supplier, and in eight weeks you'll be employed by a company you've never dealt with. Nobody asked you, and nobody is going to.

Here's what actually happens to the document you signed, and what to check before the date arrives.

Key Takeaways

• Your employment transfers automatically on your existing terms, and your start date does not reset. You don't sign a new contract and you're not a new starter.
• A change to your terms is void if the main reason for it is the transfer, and that protection has no expiry date. Signing it doesn't rescue it.
• A dismissal is automatically unfair if the main reason is the transfer, but you still need qualifying service to claim: two years now, six months from 1 January 2027.
• Occupational pension rights for old age, invalidity and survivors are the clearest gap. Your new employer must offer a scheme and match your contributions up to 6%.
• Refusing to transfer ends your employment with no dismissal, no notice pay and no redundancy pay. It's the most expensive decision available to you.

What a TUPE transfer actually is

TUPE stands for the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006. It's the law that stops a change of employer being used to rewrite everyone's terms, and it applies to businesses of any size.

Acas splits it into two situations. Work out which one you're in.

A business transfer is the one people picture: your employer, or an identifiable part of it, is sold or merged, and the operation carries on in recognisably the same form under new ownership.

A service provision change is the one that catches more people. A service is outsourced for the first time, or moves from one contractor to another, or is brought back in-house. Cleaning, catering, IT support, facilities, call handling, care work. If there's an organised group of employees whose principal purpose is delivering that service for a client, and the client stays the same, the people move with the work.

Two consequences follow immediately. You don't get a vote, because the transfer happens by operation of law rather than by agreement. And your employer cannot pick who moves, because everyone assigned to the transferring business or service goes, not just the people the new employer wants.

What comes with you, unchanged

Under regulation 4, the transfer does not terminate your contract. It has effect after the transfer as if it had originally been made between you and the new employer, and all the old employer's rights, powers, duties and liabilities under it transfer too.

Gov.uk and Acas put the same list in plainer terms. What moves with you includes:

• Your job title and role
• Your pay, including overtime rates, contractual bonuses and commission
• Sick leave and sick pay arrangements
• Holiday entitlement, including accrued holiday and any carry-over
• Allowances and insurance-based benefits
• Contractual enhanced redundancy pay
• Your notice period
• Your period of continuous employment, with the same start date as before

That last one is the quiet giant. Continuity is what unlocks redundancy pay, unfair dismissal, parental leave and notice length, and a transfer doesn't break it. Six years with the old employer is six years with the new one on day one.

Three things follow that people are rarely told.

Your restrictive covenants come too. A non-compete or non-solicitation clause survives the transfer and becomes enforceable by the new employer. Courts read it against the business as it was when you signed, which can leave an inherited covenant looking oddly shaped in its new setting, but it doesn't simply evaporate. If you were counting on a change of owner to release you, check the wording, because restrictive covenants in UK employment contracts do not lapse on a change of employer.

Your probation cannot be restarted. You're a continuing employee, not a new hire, so a new employer putting transferred staff on a fresh six-month probation is asking you to hand back something you already own. The rules on what a probationary period can and cannot do apply to the contract as it stands.

Liabilities transfer as well as rights. An unresolved grievance, an unpaid expense claim, an outstanding discrimination complaint, a promise made by your old line manager: these become the new employer's problem. That's a point in your favour, and it's worth raising anything outstanding in writing before the date rather than after.

Your new employer should confirm in writing that the employer has changed and that your length of service and contractual rights are the same as before. Ask for it if it doesn't arrive.

💡 Pro Tip: At least 28 days before the transfer, your old employer must give the new one your "employee liability information": your name, age, written statement of particulars, and any disciplinary or grievance records or live cases from the last two years. Your new employer arrives knowing all of that. It's reasonable to ask what was sent.

What your new employer cannot change, and the test that decides it

Regulation 4(4) is blunt: a purported variation of your contract is void if the sole or principal reason for it is the transfer. Void means it has no legal effect, not that it's unfair or arguable. And Acas is explicit that there's no limit on how long TUPE protects your terms.

Agreeing to it doesn't fix it. If the main reason for the change is the transfer, your signature doesn't make the variation valid, which is why "everyone else has signed" is a weaker argument than it sounds.

Three routes let an employer change your terms anyway:

1. The change improves your terms. More holiday, better sick pay, a higher employer pension contribution. TUPE stops your terms being worsened, not bettered.
2. There is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce, and you agree to the change. This is the ETO test, and it's the phrase to listen for.
3. The contract already permits the change, through a genuine and clearly drafted variation clause that existed before the transfer.

The ETO test is narrower than employers often present it. Acas gives economic reasons such as essential cost savings, technical reasons such as new processes or equipment, and organisational reasons such as a change to the structure of the organisation. But the reason has to entail an actual change in the workforce: redundancies, restructuring, altered job roles, or a change of work location.

Which rules out the most common request of all. Harmonisation is not an ETO reason. Wanting transferred staff on the same terms as existing staff, so payroll is simpler and nobody compares notes at lunch, is administrative convenience. It doesn't involve a change in the workforce, so it doesn't meet the test. Acas notes the mirror of that too: you have no automatic right to be levelled up to a better-paid colleague's terms either.

One genuine exception exists for collective agreements. A year after the transfer, terms derived from a collective agreement can be renegotiated, but only if the contract is not made worse overall.

So if you've been sent a new contract and told it's "just a tidy-up", the useful question is not whether it looks reasonable. It's which specific terms differ from the ones you have, and what reason is being given for each. Ookulli reviews the new contract clause by clause against UK law, flags what's unusual or missing, and shows which law each flag rests on, which gives you the list to hold up against the terms you already hold.

Redundancy around a TUPE transfer

Yes, you can be made redundant around a transfer. The protection is narrower than "you cannot be dismissed", and knowing the difference tells you which conversation you're actually having.

Regulation 7 makes a dismissal automatically unfair where the sole or principal reason is the transfer. The exception is the same ETO test: if the sole or principal reason is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce, the dismissal is not automatically unfair, and it's then judged by the ordinary rules on fair reason and fair process. Since 31 January 2014, "changes in the workforce" expressly includes a change to the place where employees are employed, so relocation counts.

Acas puts the post-transfer position in one sentence: a new employer can only make redundancies related to the transfer where there is both a genuine redundancy situation and a need to change the workforce for ETO reasons. Two overlapping roles after a merger is a real redundancy situation. "We inherited people we didn't want" is not.

There's a catch before you rely on any of this. A TUPE dismissal is automatically unfair, but it isn't one of the exceptions in section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, so you still need the qualifying period of continuous service to bring the claim. That's two years today. Section 25 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts it to six months from 1 January 2027, and it counts service you have already built, so most people transferring now will be over the line the day it commences. Your continuity carries across the transfer, so it's your total service that counts, not your time with the new employer.

Some dismissals need no qualifying service at all. If you're dismissed because of pregnancy or maternity leave, that's automatically unfair from day one, and the enhanced redundancy protection during pregnancy and after maternity leave applies to a transfer-related redundancy exactly as it would to any other.

On the money: statutory redundancy pay needs two years' continuous service, and gov.uk sets it at half a week's pay for each full year under 22, one week for each full year from 22 to 40, and one and a half weeks for each full year at 41 or over. For redundancies on or after 6 April 2026, weekly pay is capped at £751 and the total at £22,530. Contractual enhanced redundancy pay transfers with your contract, so check whether you have it before accepting a statutory figure.

If you're offered a payment to leave instead of transferring, that's a settlement agreement, and signing one waives claims you may not have valued yet. And if you're dismissed and paid off instead of working your notice, check what your contract says about payment in lieu of notice, because whether that payment is contractual changes both the tax treatment and what else you can argue.

The consultation you are entitled to before a TUPE transfer

Both employers have duties here, and the old employer's are the ones that matter to you first.

Under regulation 13, your employer must inform representatives of the affected employees, long enough before the transfer to allow consultation, of four things:

1. That the transfer is going to happen, the date or proposed date, and the reasons for it
2. The legal, economic and social implications for affected employees
3. The measures the current employer envisages taking in connection with the transfer
4. The measures the new employer envisages taking

"Measures" is the statutory word, and it's the one to use. Asking "what measures are envisaged?" in writing is a request for information your employer is required to provide, which beats asking "will anything change?"

Acas is clear that employers must inform about a transfer even where there are no changes to consult on. Consultation proper is required where measures are envisaged, and it means the employer genuinely considers what representatives say, not that it reads a statement aloud.

Who gets told depends on your workplace. If a trade union is recognised, its representatives are informed and consulted. Otherwise the employer arranges an election of employee representatives. Since transfers on or after 1 July 2024, regulation 13A lets an employer deal with employees directly where there are no existing representatives and either the employer has fewer than 50 employees or fewer than 10 employees are transferring.

Skipping this has a price. Under regulations 15 and 16, a tribunal can award up to 13 weeks' gross pay per affected employee for a failure to inform or consult. The claim must normally be brought within three months of the transfer being completed, rising to six months where the failure falls on or after 1 October 2026. Either way the clock starts on the transfer date, whether or not anyone has explained the position to you.

Pensions: where the protection stops

Regulation 10 takes occupational pension schemes out of the automatic transfer, but only so far as they relate to benefits for old age, invalidity or survivors. Your new employer doesn't have to continue an identical pension. What you've already built up stays protected in the old scheme; it doesn't disappear because you moved.

Two things soften it.

Provisions in a scheme that do not relate to old age, invalidity or survivors aren't treated as part of the scheme for this purpose, which means they can transfer with the rest of your contract. Enhanced early retirement terms triggered by redundancy are the usual example, so check for them before you assume they're gone.

And there's a floor. Under section 258 of the Pensions Act 2004 and the Transfer of Employment (Pension Protection) Regulations 2005, a new employer must offer transferring employees pension provision. For a money purchase or stakeholder scheme, regulation 3 requires the employer to match your contributions, up to 6% of your basic pay — bonus, commission and overtime are expressly disregarded. Automatic enrolment applies on top of that.

So the practical questions are narrow. Was your old scheme defined benefit or defined contribution? What was the employer contribution, and what is it in the new scheme? Do you have any early retirement or redundancy-linked benefit that isn't about old age? Those three answers tell you the size of the change.

If you do not want to transfer

You can refuse. Understand what refusing costs before you say it out loud.

Under regulation 4(7) and 4(8), if you object to becoming employed by the new employer, the transfer terminates your contract with the old employer and you are not treated, for any purpose, as having been dismissed. Acas confirms the consequence in plain words: an employee who refuses to transfer cannot usually claim redundancy pay or unfair dismissal, and the employer treats it as a resignation. There's no notice pay either, because there's no dismissal to give notice of.

Tell your current employer, and do it in writing.

There's a separate and much stronger route, and the difference between them is worth real money. Under regulation 4(9), where the transfer involves or would involve a substantial change in working conditions to your material detriment, you can treat the contract as terminated and you are treated as dismissed. A large unavoidable relocation, a significant cut in pay or status, a wholesale change in duties. Acas describes this as a complex area and suggests taking advice, which is fair: the bar is real, and resigning first and arguing later is the sequence that loses cases.

The distinction in one line: objecting because you'd rather not is a resignation, while leaving because the job itself has substantially worsened to your detriment can be a dismissal. Get the facts in writing before you choose, ideally before the transfer date.

What to check before the transfer date

Work through this while you still have both employers in the room.

1. Find your contract and your written statement of particulars. These are the terms that transfer, and you can't check what has moved without them.
2. Write down your continuous employment start date. It should be identical after the transfer. If a new document shows a new one, say so immediately and in writing.
3. Ask what measures are envisaged, using that word, and ask both employers.
4. Read your restrictive covenants. They transfer, and you may be about to work for someone whose competitors are different from your old employer's.
5. Get your pension answer in writing. Scheme type, employer contribution percentage, and what happens to anything already accrued.
6. List anything outstanding, including your holiday balance and carry-over. Unpaid expenses, a live grievance, promised training, an agreed pay review. Liabilities transfer, so record them now, not after the handover.
7. Don't sign a new contract on the transfer date just because someone at induction says everyone is signing. A new contract isn't required, and if the reason for a change is the transfer, the change is void whether or not you signed it.

A TUPE transfer is one of the few moments in employment law where the default position genuinely favours you. The law is on your side here. What catches people is that the paperwork arrives fast, with a friendly covering note, at a moment when disagreeing feels awkward.

Have Ookulli check what actually changed in your contract. Your first review is free, then £10 per document, with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and your document is never used to train AI models.

Frequently asked questions

Does TUPE mean I keep my terms and conditions?

Yes. Your contract transfers to the new employer intact under regulation 4, including pay, holiday, sick pay, notice, contractual bonuses and your continuous employment start date. A variation of those terms is void if the sole or principal reason for it is the transfer, and Acas confirms there is no time limit on that protection. The exceptions are changes that improve your terms, changes made for an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce and agreed with you, and changes a pre-existing contractual variation clause already permits.

Can my employer change my contract after a TUPE transfer?

Only for a reason other than the transfer itself. Wanting to harmonise transferred staff with existing staff isn't enough on its own, because it doesn't involve a change in the workforce. Your agreement doesn't validate a change whose main reason is the transfer: the variation is still void. Terms derived from a collective agreement can be renegotiated one year after the transfer, but only if your contract is not made worse overall.

Can I be made redundant during a TUPE transfer?

Yes, but only where there is a genuine redundancy situation and an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce. If the sole or principal reason for the dismissal is the transfer, it is automatically unfair under regulation 7. You still need qualifying service to claim, currently two years, falling to six months on 1 January 2027 under the Employment Rights Act 2025, and your service with your old employer counts towards it. Statutory redundancy pay needs two years' service and is capped at £751 a week and £22,530 in total for redundancies on or after 6 April 2026.

What consultation am I entitled to in a TUPE transfer?

Your employer must inform representatives of affected employees long enough before the transfer to allow consultation, covering the fact and date of the transfer, the reasons for it, its legal, economic and social implications, and the measures both employers envisage taking. Informing is required even where nothing is changing; consultation is required where measures are envisaged. For transfers on or after 1 July 2024, an employer with fewer than 50 employees, or transferring fewer than 10, can deal with employees directly where there are no existing representatives. A tribunal can award up to 13 weeks' pay for a failure. The claim must usually be brought within three months of the transfer, or six months where the failure falls on or after 1 October 2026.

What happens to my pension in a TUPE transfer?

Occupational pension rights relating to old age, invalidity and survivors do not transfer, so your new employer doesn't have to continue an identical scheme. What you have already built up remains protected in the old scheme. Your new employer must provide pension arrangements under section 258 of the Pensions Act 2004, and for a money purchase or stakeholder scheme it must match your contributions up to 6% of your basic pay, with bonus, commission and overtime disregarded. Scheme provisions that are not about old age, invalidity or survivors, such as some redundancy-linked early retirement terms, are not treated as part of the pension scheme and can transfer with your contract.

Can I refuse a TUPE transfer?

You can, and it's rarely the cheap option. Objecting terminates your employment on the transfer date and you are not treated as dismissed for any purpose, which means no notice pay, no redundancy pay and no unfair dismissal claim. Tell your current employer in writing. The separate route is regulation 4(9): where the transfer involves a substantial change in working conditions to your material detriment, you can treat yourself as dismissed, which is a genuine claim rather than a resignation. The two look similar and are worth very different amounts, so establish the facts before you decide.

This article provides general information about UK employment law. It is not legal advice. If you are in a dispute, or the stakes are high, speak to a qualified solicitor.