After a TUPE transfer, it's good practice for the old and new employer to continue informing and consulting with employees.
There are also things to consider if after a transfer:
- any employees do not want to work for the new employer
- the employer wants to make redundancies
Informing and consulting
Once the transfer has happened, by law employers no longer need to inform and consult employees and representatives. This is unless there are:
- any proposed changes in working practices
- redundancies
However, it's a good idea to continue informing and consulting affected employees. This can help employers to understand employees' concerns and support them as they settle in.
Steps the old employer should take
The old employer should talk regularly with, and listen to, employees to make sure:
- any reorganisation of teams or working practices has been successful
- employees can manage the workload
It's good practice to:
- reassure remaining affected employees through regular meetings and updates
- listen and respond to concerns, and help to maintain performance and quality of work
- check employees are coping well after the transfer
- look at introducing team-building activities and reward schemes to boost morale
Steps the new employer should take
Employees who have transferred to an organisation might have different ways of doing the same job.
To help the transferred employees settle in, the new employer should:
- welcome them to the organisation, including introducing them to any new team members and their line manager
- use the induction process to introduce rules, policies and standards so they know what is expected of them and how things should be done
- hold regular team meetings to integrate any new employees with their line managers and existing staff
- put in writing any changes to their terms and conditions of employment, for example the name and address of their new employer
- check they understand the terms which transferred over with them
The new employer must make sure they have put in place any reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.
It's good practice to:
- listen to employee suggestions and arrange discussions to generate ideas to improve processes – this could help identify and resolve problems early
- make sure line managers support employees while they’re adjusting to change
- consider having buddies or mentors for new employees to deal with queries and identify problems quickly
The new employer must inform and consult employees and their representatives if they plan on:
- making any changes to working practices – these are known as 'measures'
- making redundancies
If employees do not want to work for the new employer
If any employees want to leave after transferring to an organisation, they must tell the employer in writing. This could be in a letter or email.
The employer must:
- confirm the notice period and agree a leaving date
- pay the employee any outstanding wages and holiday they've built up but not yet taken when their employment ends
The employee will not usually be entitled to:
- any additional payments, for example redundancy
- claim for unfair dismissal
They might be able to make a claim to an employment tribunal if they were not informed about the transfer before it happened. Find out more about why an employer must consult.
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If working conditions are worse
An employee might be able to end their employment and make a claim for constructive dismissal if:
- after the transfer their working conditions are substantially worse
- this is to their material detriment
Working conditions could include:
- conditions in the contract
- physical working conditions
- other conditions such as the place of work
For example, the workplace changes location which makes it difficult or much more expensive for an employee to transfer.
This is a complex area of law. If you're in this situation, you should get legal advice.
Redundancy
After employees have transferred, the new employer can only make redundancies related to the transfer if there is both:
- a genuine redundancy situation
- a need to make changes to the workforce for economic, technical or organistional (ETO) reasons
If the reason for redundancies is not related to the transfer, the employer does not need an ETO reason.
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