Claimant v Axiom Ince Ltd (In Administration) and Others — 2024

The Tribunal dealt only with the claimants' entitlement to protective awards. It recorded that on 3 October 2023 the majority of claimants received emails giving notice of immediate termination, and that they were dismissed without notice, warning, or consultation. The judgment also notes that there was no recognised trade union and that the respondent later went into administration on 26 October 2023.

The claimants contended that the respondent failed to comply with its duties under s.188 of TULCRA because it did not allow the affected employees to elect representatives, did not provide the required information, did not consult appropriate representatives, did not give written information about the proposed redundancies before dismissal, and did not consult about avoiding or reducing dismissals. The Secretary of State did not oppose the claim, and the joint administrators did not participate in the proceedings.

The Tribunal held that all claimants were dismissed without consultation with appropriate employee representatives and without the required written information about the proposed redundancies. It therefore declared that the respondent had failed to comply with its obligations under s.188 of TULCRA and applied a protective period of 90 days from the relevant dismissal date, using 4 October 2023 as the default start date where the individual dismissal date was not known.

The Tribunal found no basis to reduce the protective award below 90 days' gross pay. It recorded that individual entitlements would be calculated by the National Insurance Fund and that any unpaid balance would rank as unsecured claims in the respondent's administration.