Case 2600691/2020 · Employment Tribunal
Claimant v Snows Timber Ltd (in Administration) and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy — 2020
- Case reference
- 2600691/2020
- Decision date
- 10 July 2020
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Britton Date
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Claimant
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe administrators for Snows Timber Ltd dismissed the vast majority of the workforce on 18 November 2019, amounting to 74 employees, after the business went into administration. The tribunal found there was no consultation with any employees, no recognised trade union, no invitation for employees to appoint elected representatives, and no individual consultation in the alternative. It held that the provisions of s.188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 were not complied with at all, so the protected period began on 18 November 2019.
The tribunal found that all of the employees who brought the consolidated claims were employed at establishments where more than 20 individuals were dismissed within a 90-day period commencing 18 November 2019, and were entitled to a protective award under s.190. Applying Susie Radin Ltd v GMB and others, it held that it was just and equitable to make a protective award of 90 days' pay for the claimants listed on the schedule.
The claim against the Second Respondent was dismissed. The tribunal said he could not be liable for the dismissals and that any application based on s.189 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was premature. The judgment was sent to the parties on 10 July 2020 and was signed by Employment Judge Britton Date.
Claims and outcomes
2 findings recordedThis case has mixed outcomes under at least one legal claim type. A tribunal can uphold some allegations and dismiss others under the same legal head, so rows below may represent separate issues or allegation groups from the judgment.
| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | Failure to consult claim under s.188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 against the First Respondent. The tribunal made a protective award of 90 days' pay for each claimant on the attached schedule. | Upheld | — | — |
| Other | Claim against the Second Respondent was dismissed because he could not be liable for the dismissals, and any application based upon s.189 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 was premature. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
5 references- s.188 TULCRA
- s.190 TULCRA
- s.189 ERA 1996
- Susie Radin Ltd v GMB and others [2004] EWCA Civ 180
- just and equitable protective award
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
How we got this data
Case essentials (reference, date, judge, venue, country, claim categories) are extracted from the structured metadata gov.uk publishes alongside each decision. Parties and monetary figures are extracted from the judgment PDF text. Key findings and per-claim outcomes require a second extraction pass that is not yet complete for this case — until then, the primary source linked above is the authoritative record. See full methodology.
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