Collective redundancies - duty to consult representatives

Under s.188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less it must consult with the appropriate employee representatives. The required start date of the consultation period depends on the number of affected employees. Following the decision in Junk v Kühnel [2005] IRLR 310 ECJ it appears that consultation must have taken place before redundancy notices are served. 

¹Although there is no duty to consult with employee representatives, individual consultation will still be necessary. 

XpertHR's line manager briefing on collective redundancies includes further information on the duty to consult representatives, including what is meant by "affected employees" and whether or not the employer is required to consult when it intends to offer employees alternative employment. The XpertHR workflow on redundancy is a step-by-step guide for the employer to carry out a legally compliant redundancy process, indicating at which stage the employer should consult representatives.