Ibrahim Idris & 22 Others v Empire Cinemas Limited (in liquidation) — 2024

Empire Cinemas Ltd went into administration on 7 July 2023. Mr Idris and the other claimants worked at the Walthamstow cinema. On 6 July 2023 Mr Idris was asked to arrange for staff to attend the cinema the following day, without being told the purpose of the meeting. The administrators attended on 7 July 2023 and told staff that they were dismissed with immediate effect, and the cinema then closed permanently.

The tribunal found that there had been no consultation with the staff about the redundancy. It accepted that there had been discussions between the company and the administrators in the context of a recovery plan, but found that at no time before 7 July 2023 was the closure of the Walthamstow cinema discussed with the staff who worked there. More than 20 staff worked there, and there were 23 claimants plus others who did not bring individual claims.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the claimants and other employees of the respondent who worked at the Walthamstow branch were entitled to a protective award under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1988. Citing paragraph 24 of Radin Ltd v GMB & Ors and London Borough of Barnet v Unison & Anor, it said there had been no consultation at all and the employees were dismissed with immediate effect, so the only possible award was the maximum of 90 days' pay for each employee. It also noted that Mr Idris and Ms Ward later stayed on for one week to oversee closure, but found that this did not affect the award.

The judgment left the calculation of each individual protective award to be agreed between the parties, or determined at a later one-day hearing if necessary. It directed claimants who could not agree the amount to file calculations based on 90 days' pay, using hourly rate, hours per day, and days per week.