Does it matter whether employees were told about the sale before or after I took over?

It doesn't change statutory continuity of employment, which turns on whether you hired the seller's employees as part of a going-concern sale within the applicable timeframe, not on when or how they were informed about the transaction itself. Employees hired into a continuing business generally get the benefit of continuity regardless of whether they found out about the sale weeks in advance or on the day it happened.

Where timing and how employees were told can matter is on the practical and common-law side. Employees who feel blindsided, or who are pressured into signing new agreements on short notice without a genuine chance to consider them or get advice, are in a stronger position to argue any new contract they signed isn't fully enforceable, particularly if it purports to limit their entitlements below what a court might otherwise consider fair. It can also affect morale and turnover risk right when you most need continuity and cooperation from the team you're inheriting.

Give employees reasonable notice and a genuine opportunity to consider any new terms, rather than presenting changes as a fait accompli on closing day. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you plan employee communications and timing around closing.