I used to work for a transport company that lost a major contract to another firm. The company that took over argued that, since no assets were involved, the transfer of undertakings legislation didn’t apply, and they refused to employ any staff from my former employer. Should they have been obliged to take on staff who’d worked on the contract previously?
It used to be clear that the legislation – which preserves employees’ rights in moving from one company to another – would only apply where the change in contractor involved the transfer of assets or a significant part of the workforce. However recent cases have put more emphasis on whether the original firm retains its identity in some way. The one thing that is certain is that you should see a specialist in employment law if your work is taken over by another firm.