The Government have issued a draft set of regulations (The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (Amendment) Order 2013) intended to come into force on 6th April which affect any proposal to make at least 20 employees collectively redundant from that date on.
They are brief and do two things. Firstly they reduce the required consultation period (for proposals to dismissal at 100 or more employees) down from 90 days to only 45. They do not make any attempt to reduce the maximum protective award period for claims down to 45 days with it, though, which is good. S you know the max protective award period for compensation (for failure to consult properly, even if only 20 employees are proposed to be dismissed) is 90days for an award of up to 90days’ pay. The starting point for the tribunal is to be 90 days , with this being reduced if there is evidence brought before the tribunal justifying a reduction from the maximum. We find that often there is no evidence brought to tribunal (eg by administrators). This looks like remaining the position even if the consultation period required is reduced to 45 days. We will see if this is picked up on before the draft Order is finalised.
In addition, the Regulations bring fixed term employees into the headcount for proposals to dismiss 20 or more employees.
by Gordon Bell