September news in brief

  24th September, 2009

All the latest stories from the world of work

When to consult on collective redundancy? European Court of Justice ruling may have UK implications

UK employers may be forced to consult their workforce earlier when facing collective redundancies following a ruling from the European Court of Justice.

The case, referred by the Finnish High Court, develops the meaning of consultation under the European directive, which could have implications for the interpretation of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act (TULRA), the UK legislation which implements the directive.

The TULRA requires employers to begin a process of collective consultation when a proposal is put forward to make 20 or more employees redundant within a 90-day period. The ruling by the European Court of Justice, however, suggests that consultation should begin earlier, when redundancies are contemplated, rather than proposed.

This could mean that employers would need to consult their workforce at the point at which they were establishing the feasibility of redundancies, or how many redundancies might be required, and not just when a proposal had been presented.

Derek Luckhurst, training and development director at the IPA, said: “Regardless of the possible implications of the ECJ ruling, we would always encourage employers to consult their workforce as early as possible. Employers need to understand that every member of staff in any organisation watches carefully how people are treated during redundancy thinking ‘is that me next’. Consultation can make the difference between huge increases in cynicism levels amongst those who are left or an engaged workforce which is concentrating on business as usual”