You have picked a new cleaning firm, the old contract ends in six weeks, and the incoming contractor has just asked how many staff it will be taking on. That question is TUPE. When you change cleaning contractor, the people who clean your building can move to the new firm automatically, on their existing terms, whether or not anyone planned for it. You are not their employer, but as the client you sit in the middle of the handover, and the way you run the tender decides how smoothly it goes. This guide is for a facilities or office manager about to make the switch, written against the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and Acas guidance as they stand in October 2026.
TUPE when changing cleaning contractor: does it apply?
TUPE covers what the regulations call a service provision change. Moving a service from one contractor to another is one of the three kinds, alongside outsourcing it for the first time and bringing it back in house. Three conditions decide whether it applies.
First, there must be an organised grouping of employees whose principal purpose is carrying out the work for you. A team of four cleaners who spend most of their hours in your building usually counts. A cleaner who covers your site for two hours a week among a dozen others usually does not. Second, the activities must be fundamentally the same before and after. Office cleaning that stays office cleaning is the same activity, even if the new firm uses different equipment. Third, the work cannot be a one off task of short duration, such as a single deep clean after a refurbishment.
If all three are met, everyone assigned to that grouping transfers on the day the new contract starts. Their continuity of service, pay, hours and most contractual terms go with them.
The 28 day information rule
The outgoing contractor must give the incoming one employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer date. Acas lists what it includes: each person’s name and age, their written statement of employment particulars, disciplinary and grievance records from the last two years, any collective agreements, and any claims made or expected against the old employer in the same period.
If it arrives late, wrong or not at all, the new contractor can take the old one to an employment tribunal, and Acas says compensation will normally be at least £500 for each employee affected. That is a dispute between the two contractors, but it lands on your doorstep, because a new firm that does not know who is coming cannot staff your building properly on day one.
So set the timetable yourself. Put the change date in the tender pack, tell the outgoing firm in writing when notice is given, and ask it to confirm the date it will send the information. If your contract with the outgoing firm has a clause requiring it to share staffing details on exit, now is the time to use it. If it does not, add one to the new contract so the next change is easier.
What the new contractor can and cannot change
This is where clients get surprised. A new contractor often prices the work on fewer hours, a different shift pattern or its own standard terms. TUPE makes a change void where the sole or principal reason for it is the transfer. Harmonising the transferring cleaners onto the new firm’s terms because they transferred is exactly that.
The exception is an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce, usually shortened to an ETO reason. Moving from an evening clean to an early morning clean across all your sites, for genuine operational reasons, may qualify. Cutting pay to match the firm’s other staff will not.
Dismissal works the same way. A dismissal because of the transfer is automatically unfair unless there is an ETO reason. At present an employee needs two years’ service to bring that claim. Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal falls to six months from 1 January 2027, and the cap on compensation is being removed. Cleaning teams often include people with a year or so of service, so a tender that only works if staff are dismissed carries much more risk next year than it did last year. Ask bidders how their price treats the transferring staff, and be wary of a quote that is cheap because it assumes they will not be there.
Consultation, and who does it
Both contractors must inform their staff about the transfer and its implications, and consult on any measures planned. Since 1 July 2024, an employer with fewer than 50 employees, or any employer where fewer than 10 people are transferring, can consult the staff directly if there is no recognised union or existing employee representatives. Most office cleaning contracts fall within the second test. Failure can lead to a protective award of up to 13 weeks’ pay per affected employee.
Your role is practical. Give both firms access to the building and a room for meetings with staff before the change, and do not announce the switch to the cleaners yourself before their employer has spoken to them.
Pensions and holiday
Accrued holiday and any money owed transfer with the employee. Pension is the one area that does not move in full: old age benefits under an occupational scheme are excluded, but separate regulations require the new employer to offer at least a minimum level of pension provision where the old employer contributed to one. The incoming contractor’s adviser should deal with this, but ask the question so it is not left until payday.
What to do this week
Look at the exit clause in your current cleaning contract and check it obliges the outgoing firm to share staffing information. Ask the outgoing firm now how many people work mainly on your site. Put the transfer date and the 28 day deadline in your tender timetable. And when you compare bids, compare the staffing plan, not only the price.
If you need cleaning or facilities cover while a contract changes hands, or a clean handover is not possible in time, Flamingo Workforce supplies vetted cleaning and facilities staff on a temporary basis across the UK. See our cleaning and facilities page or get in touch.