What Happens to Cleaning Staff When You Change Contractors? A Guide to TUPE

One of Brightr's biggest lessons is that a significant proportion of apparently poor inherited cleaners have been poorly managed: inadequate equipment, insufficient chemicals, little training, minimal supervision and almost no meaningful relationship with their employer.

Where TUPE applies, relevant employees generally transfer with continuity of employment and existing contractual rights protected. The incoming contractor cannot simply replace the workforce because it won the contract.

Meet people, understand their roles, check training and equipment, supply the right chemicals and PPE, explain the specification, set expectations and introduce supervision. The change in performance can be striking.

Training should explain the customer's expectations, site, methods, equipment, standard and escalation route. Initial training then needs continuing supervision, audits and feedback.

Not every poor performer has been failed by management. Where appropriate training, equipment, clear standards and support are provided and performance or conduct remains unacceptable, the employer can manage the issue through the appropriate fair process.

Employees should not be dismissed because of the transfer itself. But genuine capability, conduct, attendance or other employment issues can be managed appropriately. Employers should take HR/legal advice on specific cases, particularly transfer-related dismissals or redundancies.

The incoming contractor should form its own evidence-based view. Ask what happened, whether it was documented, whether the cleaner knew the standard and whether the previous employer managed the issue.

Transferred cleaners need clarity about pay, hours, holidays, management and expectations. Good mobilisation reduces anxiety and resets culture.

Understand → Equip → Train → Manage → Measure → Improve. Support people who can improve; manage fairly where they cannot or will not.

You do not necessarily need an entirely new workforce to get an entirely different cleaning service. Sometimes the people already in the building are perfectly capable of delivering it. They simply need a better employer.

Brightr provides managed commercial cleaning across offices, schools, medical facilities, warehouses, factories and food manufacturing environments. When we inherit employees through TUPE, our approach is to give people the management, training, equipment and support required to succeed - then hold them accountable for the standard expected.