You can’t be dismissed the day after your job transfers to a new employer
“Dismissal the day after a TUPEStands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). If the business or work you are part of is sold or transferred to a new employer, TUPE means your existing terms and conditions transfer... transfer found automatically unfair; total award over £83,000.”
If your job transfers to a new employer under TUPE, you keep the same rights and protections you had before, and being dismissed just because of the transfer is automatically unfair dismissalA legal claim you can bring if your employer dismissed you without a fair reason or without following a fair process. You normally need two years of continuous employment to qualify, though some dismi....
- The normal two years' qualifying service still generally applies, but once you have it, a dismissal connected to a TUPE transfer is automatically unfair, your employer cannot argue it was reasonable.
- Your new employer has to inform and consult you about a transfer before it happens, not explain itself afterwards.
- If you are dismissed shortly after a transfer with no real explanation, get advice quickly, time limits for tribunal claims are short.
The situation
An employee had worked for the same business for fourteen years when it was transferred to a new company under TUPE rules. The new employer dismissed him the very next day. No process was followed, and the tribunal found no explanation for the dismissal beyond the transfer itself.
What the tribunal found
The tribunal found the dismissal was automatically unfair, because it happened for a reason connected to the transfer rather than any genuine business need: it was "automatically unfair as the claimant was dismissed because of the TUPE transfer" (TUPE 2006, reg 7). The new employer had also failed to inform and consult about the transfer beforehand, as regs 13 and 14 require. The employer did not defend the claim, so every part of it succeeded. That covered the TUPE failures, unpaid holiday payThe pay you receive for the paid annual leave you're entitled to under UK law, worth at least 5.6 weeks a year for most workers. It's usually calculated from your normal pay, though the exact method d..., unlawful deductions from wages, and breach of contractWhen one party to an employment contract fails to comply with one of its terms without a lawful reason. Your employer breaching a significant term of your contract can entitle you to resign and claim ... for unpaid notice. Between the basic awardA fixed element of an unfair dismissal award, calculated by reference to your age, length of service, and weekly pay. Unlike the compensatory award, it is less affected by Polkey reductions., the compensatory awardThe main part of an unfair dismissal award, calculated to cover your actual financial loss. It is not automatic and can be reduced, including to nil, if the tribunal concludes you would have been dism..., notice pay and holiday pay, the total award came to just over £83,000.
Mr R Branigan v JDS 64 Ltd (in creditors' voluntary liquidation). Case 3309081/2024. Watford Employment Tribunal. 29 May 2026.