TUPE Transfer Checklist Template

Owned by the transfer lead. Enter the transfer date on the first task: every due date counts back from it in working days, and the tasks after the transfer count forward. Say which side of the transfer your organisation is on, and the tasks for that side appear. This checklist follows the rules for Great Britain.

• Set up the transfer: the two employers, the side you are on, the transfer date and the people — your organisation and the other employer, what is transferring, which side your organisation is on, the transfer date and the people who run each part; later tasks are assigned from these fields and every due date counts from the transfer date
• Confirm the transfer with the other employer: what moves, the date and the contacts — the business, part or service that is transferring, the planned transfer date, the reasons for the transfer, and one named contact on each side for the employee side of the transfer
• Name who manages the transfer and plan how staff will be kept informed — one person who manages the transfer and is the point of contact, a transfer plan with the dates in this checklist, and how and when affected employees will hear about it

Decide what kind of transfer this is and check it against regulation 3. The answer on the last task of this phase confirms the run, or shows a task to stop it.

• Decide the type of transfer — a business transfer, or a service provision change by outsourcing, re-tendering or insourcing; the next task shows the conditions for the type you choose
• Check the conditions in regulation 3 for that type — the tests the regulations set for the type chosen on the task before, with the facts that meet each one
• Check whether the outgoing employer is subject to insolvency proceedings — bankruptcy, liquidation, administration or another insolvency proceeding changes how TUPE applies (regulations 8 and 9), and this checklist does not cover it
• Record whether TUPE applies, with the advice taken — the conclusion, who advised and when; if TUPE does not apply, or advice is still awaited, a task appears to stop or pause the run
• Stop this run if TUPE does not apply — record why TUPE does not apply and archive this checklist now: the tasks after this one stay on the checklist but do not apply. If staff will still move or lose their jobs, the ordinary rules on contracts, dismissals and redundancy apply instead

Work out who is assigned to what is transferring, who else is affected, and what warranties and indemnities the employers give each other. Affected employees are wider than the people who move: they include employees on both sides whose work may be affected by the transfer or by measures taken in connection with it.

• Identify the organised grouping and the employees assigned to it — everyone assigned to the business, part or service immediately before the transfer, including anyone on sick leave, parental leave or holiday, with how much of their time they spend on the work
• Agree the list of transferring employees with the other employer — one list both employers work from, with anyone in doubt marked and the reason
• List every other employee affected by the transfer or its measures — employees of your organisation who are not transferring but whose work may change, such as colleagues who stay behind or the team the transferring staff will join, including anyone on leave
• Record the agency workers your organisation uses — the number of agency workers working for you, the parts of the organisation they work in and the type of work they do, which the information to representatives must include
• Collect the terms that will transfer — contracts and written statements, policies and handbook terms, collective agreements, union recognition, pay and bonus schemes, benefits, pensions and any terms agreed but not written down
• Agree warranties and indemnities, with legal advice — written confirmations about the employees, their terms and liabilities, and who pays if a claim follows, such as a failure to inform and consult

Decide what measures your organisation envisages, get or give the incoming employer’s measures in writing, and find out who must be informed and consulted. The representatives answer decides whether an election is needed.

• Decide the measures you envisage for your own affected employees — measures are changes in connection with the transfer that will affect employees, such as a new place of work, new hours, a change of pay date, different pension arrangements or redundancies; if your organisation envisages none, record that
• Tell the outgoing employer in writing about the measures you envisage for the transferring staff — the changes you plan for the employees who will join you, or that you envisage none, in time for the outgoing employer to inform its representatives
• Get the incoming employer’s envisaged measures in writing — the changes the incoming employer envisages for the employees who will join it, or confirmation that it envisages none, so they can go in the information to your representatives
• Find out who the appropriate representatives are — a recognised trade union for these employees, existing employee representatives with authority to be informed and consulted about the transfer, or neither; with neither, count the employees to see whether the small-business route can apply
• Invite the affected employees to elect representatives — the number of representatives, whether employees are represented as one group or in groups, how long the representatives will serve, and the timetable, sent long enough before the information is due
• Hold the election of representatives — a fair election in which every candidate is an affected employee, no affected employee is unreasonably excluded from standing, every affected employee can vote for as many candidates as there are places, voting is secret where possible and the votes are counted accurately
• Give the representatives access, facilities, time off and training — access to the affected employees they represent, a room and other facilities as appropriate, and paid time off for their duties and for training

The outgoing employer must give the incoming employer the employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer. The outgoing employer compiles and sends it; the incoming employer checks it.

• Agree with the other employer how and when the information will be given — the format, a secure way to send it, the date it will be compiled to and the date it will be sent, and who answers questions about it
• Compile the employee liability information as at a specified date — for every assigned employee, including anyone who would have been assigned had they not been dismissed because of the transfer: identity and age, the written statement particulars, disciplinary and grievance procedures in the last two years, claims in the last two years or that you reasonably believe may be brought, and any collective agreement that will apply after the transfer
• Send the employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer — in writing or in a readily accessible form, in one go or in instalments, directly or through a third party, and keep proof of when it went
• Check the employee liability information as soon as it arrives — against the agreed list, the due diligence and, where you can, what the transferring employees tell you; record if it has not arrived 28 days before the transfer
• Resolve inconsistencies and record every update — answers to the incoming employer’s questions, and every change after the information was sent (a leaver, an objection, a pay rise), notified in writing

Give every representative the information in writing long enough before the transfer to allow consultation, consult on any measures with a view to seeking agreement, and answer what they say. Both employers have this duty for their own affected employees.

• Write the information for the representatives — the fact of the transfer, its date or proposed date and the reasons for it; its legal, economic and social implications for affected employees; the measures your organisation envisages, or that there are none; the outgoing employer adds the incoming employer’s measures, or that there are none; and the agency worker information
• Give the information to each representative — delivered to each representative, or sent by post to an address they gave, or for a trade union posted to its head or main office, and the dates recorded
• Keep every affected employee informed, including anyone on leave — briefings, letters or emails to all affected employees in formats they can use, with a way to ask questions, so that people who are not union members or are away from work hear the same facts
• Consult on the measures with a view to seeking agreement — meetings with the representatives about each measure your organisation envisages, with their questions and proposals recorded and genuinely considered
• Reply to the representations, giving reasons for any you reject — a written reply to each representation, with the reasons for any that are rejected
• Keep a record of the information and consultation — the information given, the dates, the meetings, the replies and anything agreed, in one place, ready for the sign-off and for any later complaint

Write to the transferring employees, deal with anyone who objects, tell customers, and prepare payroll, pensions and right to work records for the transfer day.

• Write to each transferring employee — a letter confirming the transfer date, the new employer, that their terms and continuous service move with them, what changes if anything, and who to ask
• Record any objection to transferring and tell the other employer — who objected, the date and what they were told would happen, with the employee liability information updated
• Tell customers or the client about the transfer — who needs to know, what changes for them and the contacts from the transfer date
• Plan the final payroll and the payroll hand-over — the last pay run for the transferring employees, their year-to-date pay and deductions, and what HMRC says about which employer reference to use
• Set up payroll for the transferring employees — every employee on the new payroll with their pay, pay date, tax code and year-to-date figures as HMRC’s answer requires, ready for the first pay day
• Set up the pension arrangements the transferring employees need — what each employee has today, an occupational pension, a personal pension the old employer pays into, or none, and the arrangement that meets the law from the transfer date
• Hand over or receive the right to work check records — copies of each transferring employee’s right to work check, and the dates any follow-up check is due
• Plan the transfer day — who meets the transferring employees, what they hear, systems, equipment and access ready, and how the employees who stay are supported

The person named on the first task signs off that informing and consulting are complete before the transfer date. Nothing after the sign-off can be completed until it is done. The transfer happens on its date by law whatever is recorded here.

• Agree a later transfer date and finish informing and consulting — after ‘Not complete: a later transfer date is being agreed’ only: agree the new date with the other employer, change the transfer date on the first task so every due date moves, finish what was left, then change the decision on the sign-off to Complete and complete it
• Sign off that informing and consulting are complete before the transfer — the information given to every representative or affected employee, consultation on every measure finished with replies given, the employee liability information sent or received, and objections dealt with
• Record why informing and consulting could not be finished, and finish what still can be — after ‘Not complete: the transfer goes ahead on this date’ only: the special circumstances, every step taken towards each duty, the advice taken, and the information or replies still given before the transfer
• Welcome the transferring employees and check everyone has arrived — every expected employee welcomed and introduced to their manager and team, the induction started, and the contact for questions about their terms given
• Confirm with the incoming employer that every employee has transferred — the employees who transferred, anyone who objected or left, and support for the employees who stay

Confirm the change of employer, finish the payroll hand-over and the right to work checks, carry out any measures as consulted on, and review the transfer. Any dismissal goes through its own process.

• Confirm the change of employer to each transferred employee in writing — that the employer has changed, and that their length of service and contractual rights are the same as before the transfer
• Report the payroll change to HMRC in the right order — the payroll reports for the transfer, made as HMRC told you: where it is a succession, the last report under the old employer reference goes before the first under the new one
• Carry out any measures as consulted on, and start any dismissals properly — each measure as it was consulted on; a change to a transferred employee’s terms or any dismissal only after advice, and any redundancies through their own process
• Check in with the employees who stayed — how the work is covered without the employees who left, workload, and any concerns
• Do fresh right to work checks within 60 days of the transfer — a fresh check on every transferred employee, with the dates recorded and any follow-up check scheduled
• Hold the post-transfer review — what went well, what did not, any claim or concern raised, and what to do differently next time
• Keep the transfer records — the information, consultation record, employee liability information, objections, letters and sign-off, kept securely for at least as long as a claim could be brought