Can my new employer change my terms after a TUPE transfer?

Under Regulation 4(4) of TUPE 2006, any variation to your employment contract that is connected to the TUPE transfer is void — legally unenforceable — even if you agreed to it and even if your employer claims you consented. The new employer cannot use the transfer as an opportunity to harmonise terms downwards, cut your pay, reduce your benefits, or alter your working hours simply because the business has changed hands.

This protection is particularly powerful because it applies regardless of time: there is no set period after which the transfer connection fades in law, though in practice it becomes harder for you to prove the connection the longer after the transfer the change occurs. Courts and tribunals look at the reason for the change: if it is directly connected to the transfer (even if wrapped in business language), it is void.

Changes are permissible in two situations. First, if the change is for a genuine economic, technical, or organisational (ETO) reason entailing a change in the workforce — a restructuring for business reasons genuinely unconnected to the transfer. Second, where the change is permitted by the contract itself or by a collective agreement. Even where an ETO reason exists, the employer must still follow proper employment law processes (notice, consultation, or variation agreement) — ETO is not a free pass to change terms unilaterally.