Mr J Moseley and others v SUK Retail Limited — 2022

The Tribunal held that the claimants had standing to bring a complaint that the respondent had failed to comply with section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, and that the complaint was well founded. It found that the respondent, SUK Retail Limited (in administration), employed more than 20 employees at both Head Office and the Distribution Centre, so the collective consultation duty applied to dismissals at those establishments.

The Tribunal was not satisfied that the respondent had shown any election of employee representatives complied with section 188A(1). It relied on the absence of witness evidence from the respondent, the lack of explanation in the amended response about how representatives were elected, and the claimants' evidence that they were unaware of any proper election process. It accepted evidence from claimants that there was no consultation before dismissals on 26 March 2019 and no consultation before later dismissals in April and June 2019.

The Tribunal therefore made a protective award for the protected period under section 189(3), ordering the respondent to pay remuneration for 90 days. The award related to employees at Head Office and the Distribution Centre who were dismissed as redundant between 26 March 2019 and 28 June 2019. The Tribunal said there was no evidence that the section 188 duty applied to dismissals at other establishments, where the evidence indicated fewer than 20 employees.