TUPE
Buying, selling or outsourcing where staff transfer with the work.
How we can help
- Establishing whether TUPE applies at all, which is often the first argument
- Advising on employee liability information and its deadlines
- Managing information and consultation obligations on both sides
- Advising on which changes to terms are permissible and which are void
- Handling dismissals connected with a transfer
- Supporting the employment aspects of a business sale or service change
What happens next
- Tell us about the transaction or service change and its timescale.
- We advise whether TUPE applies and map the obligations on your side.
- We support you through the information, consultation and transfer process.
Fees for this work
Quoted individually — TUPE work varies enormously with the size and complexity of the transfer.
Common questions
Does TUPE apply to us?
It applies to business transfers and to service provision changes, which covers many outsourcing, insourcing and contractor change situations. Whether it applies is frequently disputed and the answer determines everything else, so it is worth establishing early.
Can we change terms after a transfer?
Changes for a reason connected with the transfer are generally void, even if the employee agrees, subject to limited exceptions. Harmonising terms after an acquisition is one of the most common and most expensive TUPE mistakes.
What do we have to tell the other side?
Employee liability information must be provided a prescribed period before the transfer. Failing to provide it, or providing it inaccurately, carries a financial penalty and sours the relationship at the outset.
Can we make redundancies?
Dismissals for a reason connected with the transfer are automatically unfair unless there is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce. The test is narrower than it sounds and needs advice before anyone is dismissed.
Tell us what's happened
Confidential, reviewed by a solicitor, answered within one working day.