Miss S Flett v Vets Now Emergency Ltd — 2024

Miss S Flett, a District Manager employed since 2011, complained that the Respondent had failed to consult under s.188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in connection with the 2023 restructuring. The judgment dealt only with the preliminary collective consultation issue, not the merits of any unfair dismissal claim or any remedy. The tribunal accepted that the restructuring deleted the District Manager roles and created six Area Director posts, with the Respondent putting 38 people at risk of redundancy, and possibly 41 if the earlier-lost senior roles were counted.

The central issue was whether the relevant "establishment" was the Claimant's district, as the Respondent argued, or the Respondent's undertaking as a whole, as the Claimant contended. The tribunal considered the evidence about the Respondent's structure: centralised HR, IT, finance, policies and key contracts; cross-district working and shared resources; rota cover across districts; and the way some managers and support roles operated across more than one district or were managed from Head Office. It accepted that the districts had some delegated autonomy, but held that this was constrained by central controls on budget, salary, allowances and operational policy.

Applying the authorities it cited, including Rockfon, Athinaiki Chartopoiia, USDAW/Woolworths, Lyttle, Fairhurst, Madden and Seahorse Maritime, the tribunal concluded that the districts lacked sufficient autonomy, delineation and independence to be separate establishments for s.188 purposes. It found that the Respondent's undertaking as a whole was the relevant establishment, so the duty to consult was engaged because the Respondent had proposed to dismiss more than 20 employees at one establishment within the statutory period. The remaining issues were to be resolved in accordance with the case management order of the same date.