ELI: The Document That Makes or Breaks Mobilisation

Employee Liability Information (ELI) is the formal disclosure mechanism under Regulation 11 of TUPE 2006. It requires the outgoing employer to provide the incoming employer with specific information about the transferring workforce — in writing, at least 28 days before the transfer date.

ELI is not optional, and it is not a courtesy. It is a legal obligation on the outgoing employer, and failure to provide it on time gives the incoming employer grounds to bring a tribunal claim.

Regulation 11(2) specifies exactly what ELI must contain: (1) the identity and age of each transferring employee; (2) the written particulars of employment required under Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996; (3) details of any disciplinary action taken against the employee in the previous two years; (4) details of any grievance raised by the employee in the previous two years; and (5) details of any court or tribunal proceedings brought by the employee in the previous two years, or any proceedings the outgoing employer has reasonable grounds to believe may be brought.

In practice, ELI frequently arrives incomplete. The disciplinary and grievance history is often omitted or summarised. Tribunal claims in progress are sometimes not disclosed. These omissions are not minor — they are the items most likely to create Day 1 surprises.

ELI must be provided at least 28 days before the transfer. This is a hard deadline — there is no provision in the regulations for late delivery, and the 28-day period cannot be waived by agreement between the parties.

In FM contract transitions, the 28-day deadline is routinely missed. Outgoing providers delay, data is incomplete, or the transfer date moves. The incoming provider must pursue ELI proactively — not wait for it to arrive.

Where ELI is not provided, or is provided late or inaccurately, the incoming employer can bring a claim in the employment tribunal. The minimum award is £500 per affected employee — on a 30-person transfer, that is £15,000 before any additional compensation for loss.

Beyond the tribunal risk, late ELI creates operational problems that are harder to quantify: workforce costs that cannot be modelled accurately, payroll setup that cannot be completed, and Day 1 compliance gaps that create employee relations issues from the first shift.

Good ELI arrives 6–8 weeks before go-live, not 28 days. It is structured as a spreadsheet with one row per employee, covering all five mandatory categories plus salary, hours, holiday entitlement, and any collective agreement obligations. It is accompanied by copies of any non-standard contractual terms.

The moment ELI lands, five things should happen immediately: date-stamp the receipt, check all five mandatory categories are present, cross-reference salary data against your bid model, review every tribunal and grievance entry, and establish a named query contact at the outgoing provider for any discrepancies.