Claimant v T A Anders & Company Ltd (in Administration) and The Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and (but only in the claims listed at schedule 2 to this Judgment) — 2021

The tribunal considered only the claims for a protective award arising from an alleged failure to carry out collective consultation on redundancy. The first respondent was in administration and no response was presented to the claims. Consent to lift the stay had been given only in respect of protective-award claims, and the claimants who attended confirmed that this was the only issue for determination.

The tribunal found that the respondent carried on business in Trafford Park, that there was no recognised trade union for collective bargaining or consultation, and that 21 employees at the establishment were made redundant on the same date. Some employees were first notified of an issue on 21 January 2020, but there was no collective consultation, no invitation to elect employee representatives, and a letter sent on 22 January 2020 stated that the respondent had ceased trading and that the employees were redundant with immediate effect.

On those findings, the tribunal held that the first respondent was in breach of section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and made protective awards under section 189. The protected period was set at the maximum of 90 days commencing on 22 January 2020. The judgment states that the protective award is a two-stage process and that no financial award was quantified at this stage; each claimant must seek payment of the individual award separately, subject to the recoupment regulations. Any other claims brought by the claimants were dismissed because they had not been actively pursued.