Collective redundancies - information and consultation
In Keeping Kids Company (in compulsory liquidation) v Smith and others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that events occurring after redundancy proposals did not excuse a charity's obligation to consult collectively, but could potentially be relied on to reduce the amount of the protective award.
In Guisado v Bankia SA and others, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that there is nothing in EU law to prevent a pregnant worker from being included in collective redundancies.
The Court of Appeal has held that the legislative provision that excludes park police constables from enjoying collective consultation rights is in breach of their, and their union's, art.11 rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has directed that a constructive dismissal resulting from the employer unilaterally reducing the employee's pay must be treated as a redundancy for the purposes of calculating when an employer's information and consultation obligations apply under the Collective Redundancies Directive.
A Northern Ireland tribunal has awarded protective awards of 90 days' pay to former City Link employees over the company's failure to consult on their redundancies.
The Supreme Court has held that the US Government had collective redundancy consultation obligations towards civilian workers during the closure of a US army base in the UK.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that a school's obligation to consult on collective redundancies arose when a provisional decision was made in February 2013 that the school would close unless the pupil intake number improved by April 2013.
In this Northern Irish reference, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that each of a retailer's store is capable of constituting an "establishment" for redundancy consultation purposes.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that, when deciding whether or not collective redundancy consultation obligations are triggered, the number of proposed redundancies should be measured in the entity to which the workers made redundant are assigned to carry out their duties, rather than across the whole organisation.
David Malamatenios is a partner, Linda Quinn and Krishna Santra senior associates and Melissa Powys-Rodrigues and Dominic Speedie associates at Colman Coyle Solicitors. They round up the latest rulings.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to collective redundancies - information and consultation.