Question 1

What is TUPE and what happens when your employer is taken over?

Accepted Answer

**TUPE** — the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations — protects employees when the business they work for changes hands. Its central effect is that your employment **transfers automatically** to the new employer on your existing terms, with your continuity of service preserved.

**When it applies:**

**A business transfer** — a company, or part of one, is sold as a going concern.

**A service provision change** — this is the one people miss. It covers outsourcing a service to a contractor, bringing it back in-house, and changing from one contractor to another. Cleaning, catering, IT support and facilities staff are frequently covered when a contract changes hands.

**It does not apply** to a pure share sale, where the employer is legally the same company, or generally to the sale of assets alone.

**What transfers with you:**

**Your contract**, substantially unchanged, including pay, hours, holiday and contractual benefits.

**Continuity of service**, so length of service for redundancy and unfair dismissal purposes is unbroken.

**Existing liabilities**, including outstanding claims — the new employer inherits them.

**Recognition of a trade union** in some circumstances.

**Pensions are the main exception.** Occupational pension rights relating to old age and survivors do not transfer in the same way, though the new employer must provide a minimum level of pension provision.

**Protections against change:**

**Dismissal is automatically unfair** if the sole or principal reason is the transfer, unless there is an **economic, technical or organisational (ETO) reason entailing changes in the workforce**.

**Changes to terms** for a transfer-related reason are generally void — **even if you agree to them**, which surprises employers attempting to harmonise terms after acquisition.

**Information and consultation** with representatives is required before the transfer, with penalties for failure.

**You can object** to transferring, but doing so generally terminates your employment without redundancy rights.

Question 2

What is IR35, and who does it affect?

Accepted Answer

IR35 — formally the off-payroll working rules — is UK tax legislation addressing people who work through their own company but who, stripped of that company, would look like employees of the client.

Question 3

What happens if your employer goes insolvent and you are owed money?

Accepted Answer

You become a creditor — and the practical answer is that some of what you are owed is payable by a government scheme rather than depending on whether there is money left in the business, which is the

Question 4

What is the difference between redundancy and dismissal?

Accepted Answer

Redundancy is a dismissal for a specific reason: the job is no longer needed. Dismissal generally refers to termination for a reason relating to you — conduct, capability, or another substantial

Question 5

What are garden leave and restrictive covenants?

Accepted Answer

Both are mechanisms employers use to limit what you do after you resign, and they work very differently. Garden leave keeps you employed but away from the workplace during your notice period. You

Question 6

What is a secondment, and should you take one?

Accepted Answer

A secondment is a temporary move to a different role, team or organisation, with an agreed return — you remain employed by your original employer throughout, which is the feature that distinguishes

Question 7

What is the difference between an employee, a worker and self-employed?

Accepted Answer

In UK law these are three distinct employment statuses with sharply different rights, and what your contract calls you does not decide it — a tribunal looks at the reality of the arrangement.

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