Unite the Union v Spicers Limited (in administration) — 2022

The claimant union was recognised for the respondent’s warehouse staff at the Heywood site, where there were 96 employees. The tribunal found that the respondent went into administration on 14 May 2020 after redundancy proposals had been identified on 20 April 2020, but that there had been no consultation with the union on behalf of its members. The respondent had notified the workforce and the claimant that redundancies might be necessary, started a process to elect employee representatives, and arranged a ballot, but that process was not completed before the company entered administration and the employees were made redundant between 14 May and 30 June 2020.

The tribunal held that the complaint that the respondent failed to comply with section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 was well founded and made a protective award for the Warehouse Operatives and Warehouse Supervisors at the Heywood site. It recorded that a protective award is a sanction rather than compensation and began from the maximum 90-day period, but reduced that period because the respondent had kept employees informed, had started the representative election process, and the delay in that process was treated as a mitigating factor. The tribunal considered that the claimant union represented only a small proportion of the workforce that needed to be consulted.

The protected period was set at 70 days beginning on 14 May 2020. The judgment does not state a single overall monetary total for the award, only that remuneration is due for that protected period and that the recoupment regulations apply.