Mr M Riley Miss Beata Skrypczak Mr Christopher Perry Miss Chrisel Foster Miss Leena Gudka v T M Lewin & sons Limited in administration — 2021

At an open preliminary hearing on 17 February 2022, the tribunal considered only whether it had jurisdiction to decide each claimant's claim for a protective award under sections 188 and 189 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Mr Riley and Miss Skrypczak confirmed that the ET1s sought only a protective award, and the respondent did not attend. The tribunal recorded that the claimants worked at different shops and that the number of employees at each shop was in the region of five to eight.

Applying USDAW v WW Realisation 1 Ltd and Rockfon, the tribunal held that the relevant 'establishment' was the shop to which each claimant was assigned to carry out their duties. It found that each shop was a separate establishment and that each had fewer than 20 employees. On that basis, the statutory duty to consult under section 188 did not arise, so the tribunal had no jurisdiction to make a protective award under section 189. All claims were dismissed for want of jurisdiction.