Selling your practice: the TUPE timeline

When you sell a dental practice, does the team transfer with it? In an asset sale (the usual structure for buying the goodwill and business of a practice), yes: TUPE moves every employee across to the buyer automatically, on their existing terms, with their continuity of service intact. In a share sale the company itself changes hands and the employer stays the same, so TUPE does not apply. This guide covers the asset sale, because that is where the obligations and the traps live.

Early: due diligence, both directions

Buyers inherit the workforce as it stands, including holiday accruals, contractual promises, and any simmering disputes. Sellers should get files clean early: contracts signed, terms documented, absences and issues recorded honestly. Anything hidden tends to surface in warranty claims later.

At least 28 days before completion: employee liability information

The seller must give the buyer written Employee Liability Information at least 28 days before the transfer: who transfers, their terms, disciplinary and grievance history from the last two years, and any claims brewing. Late or wrong information can cost the seller compensation of at least £500 per employee.

Before completion: inform, and consult if needed

Both parties must inform affected employees (in writing, in practice) about the transfer, its timing and reason, and its implications. If either party envisages taking any measures (changes to rotas, systems, roles), consultation is required, not just information. Since 1st July 2024, smaller employers can consult employees directly rather than electing representatives: this applies where the business has fewer than 50 employees or fewer than 10 employees are transferring, which covers most practice sales. Do it long enough before completion for the consultation to be meaningful; a letter on the Friday before a Monday completion is not.

What the buyer can and cannot do

Terms transfer as they are, and changes made because of the transfer are void even if the employee agrees to them. Dismissals where the transfer is the reason are automatically unfair, subject only to a narrow economic, technical or organisational defence involving genuine workforce changes. The practical advice to buyers: run the practice as acquired, learn it, and make any changes later, for reasons you can evidence that are not the transfer itself.

After completion

The buyer should meet everyone early, honour the terms that transferred, and rebuild the HR files properly (the right-to-work checks, notably, are the buyer’s problem now). The seller should keep records of the process, because TUPE claims arrive months later, addressed to both parties.

General guidance for UK employers, correct at 22nd July 2026. Not advice on a specific situation. More guides for your sector: HR for dental practices. Not sure where your gaps are? Check your HR Risk Score in 3 minutes.