Objecting to a transfer 


The law allows employees to object to a transfer before it takes place, even if they have no good reason. This is because the law says that nobody can be forced to work for someone else against their will. However, simply objecting to a transfer without advice from your union is rarely a good idea. This is because taking this step has negative consequences for your employment rights. Specifically, where an employee objects:


• the employment contract will terminate automatically but the employee will not be treated as having been dismissed; and


• there will be no right to claim either unfair dismissal rights or a redundancy payment (regulation 4(7) and 4(8), TUPE). 


After the objection, “the transferor may re-engage the employee on whatever terms they agree” (BIS TUPE guidance, 2014). 


‘Objecting’ to the transfer is one step in the ‘Retention of Employment’ model that can be used, by agreement between the employer and the union, to enable employees to retain their existing terms and conditions after a transfer. This model is described below.