John McMullen investigates the changing landscape of collective redundancy law
As it is currently drafted, the obligation to inform and consult under s 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A) is engaged when 20 or more redundancies are proposed “at one establishment” within a period of 90 days or less. The question is whether this threshold applies to 20 or more redundancies across the entire business, or within a smaller unit within the business, for the obligation to be triggered. If it is the latter, workers in those smaller business units may lose out on information and consultation rights.
EU law
To understand this provision it is necessary to outline the options available to member states when implementing the Collective Redundancies Directive (98/59/EC). Under Art 1(1)(a) of the Directive, member states can chose from one of two definitions of “collective redundancy”. These are as follows.
Option one
The dismissal, over a period of at least 30 days of:
- 10 workers in an establishment with 21 to 99 workers;
- 10% of the workforce in an establishment with 100 to 299
