In person v Servaccomm Redhall Ltd (in liquidation) — 2019

The claimants were former employees of Servaccomm Redhall Ltd (in liquidation). The respondent did not attend the hearing. The tribunal recorded that all claims for unfair dismissal, holiday pay, notice pay, unauthorised deduction from wages, breach of contract and other payments apart from protective awards were dismissed on withdrawal by the claimants.

On the protective award complaints under s.189 TULRCA, the tribunal found that the duty to consult arose from about mid-November 2017. By then the business was making losses, orders had fallen, workers had been placed on short time or sent home without pay, pension contributions had stopped for some employees, and the company had been seeking advice about insolvency and trying to sell the business. One sale offer had fallen through, another was not yet viable, and the tribunal found that there was a fixed, albeit provisional, intention to dismiss 20 or more employees from that point.

The tribunal found no special circumstances making it not reasonably practicable to consult. It held that insolvency alone was not enough, that there was no sudden event or disaster, and that the deterioration had taken place over months. Because there had been no consultation complying with s.188 TULRCA, the complaints were well-founded and the tribunal made a protective award for the full 90-day period, running from 5 February 2018. The tribunal noted that no mitigating features were shown and that consultation could and should have taken place before administration.