Mr K Atkinson and others named on the attached schedule v Tolent Construction Limited “In Administration” — 2025

The claimants brought claims on 23 May 2023 for a protective award. The respondent entered administration on 13 February 2023, did not enter a response, and its administrator agreed to the lifting of the moratorium so that the protective award claims only could proceed. The Secretary of State for Business and Trade was joined as an interested party.

The Tribunal found that in February 2023 the respondent proposed to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees at each of three sites: Cleveland House in Thornaby, Derwent House in Gateshead, and Colton House in Leeds. The first dismissal took effect on 13 February 2023. It found there was no proper warning or consultation with a recognised trade union or the claimants, and that no employee representatives had been elected or appointed for consultation under section 188A of the 1992 Act.

The Tribunal held that the respondent was in breach of the duty under section 188 of the 1992 Act and that the claimants' section 189 claims were well-founded. It made a protective award for the maximum protected period of 90 days beginning on 13 February 2023, equivalent to remuneration for that period for the claimants named in the schedule. No specific monetary award was stated in the judgment.

The judgment was entered without a hearing because the respondent had indicated it did not wish to defend the claims. The Employment Protection (Recoupment of Jobseekers Allowance and Income Support) Regulations 1996 apply, and the respondent was directed to provide the Secretary of State with the required claimant and termination-date information before payment under the protective award becomes due following the recoupment process.