H Gibbons v (and others per attached schedule) Iain Potter Construction Ltd (In Liquidation) — 2023

The tribunal proceeded under rule 21 on the available material because no response was presented to the claims. It recorded that the respondent was in compulsory liquidation, but that the relevant court had granted permission for the continuation of the proceedings on 25 November 2022.

The tribunal held that the claimants were entitled to bring the claim because it concerned a failure to consult appropriate employee representatives in accordance with section 188(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. It found that the respondent dismissed as redundant more than 20 employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less.

On the merits, the tribunal found that the respondent failed to carry out any consultation at all with the appropriate representatives of affected employees in accordance with section 188. It therefore held that the complaint was well founded.

The tribunal made a protective award in respect of the claimants based at the respondent’s workplace at 20 Craignethan Road, Castlehill Industrial Estate, Carluke, ML8 5WB, who were dismissed as redundant and in respect of whose dismissal the employer had failed to comply with section 188. The protected period began on 2 November 2022 and lasted for 90 days; the judgment ordered payment of remuneration for that protected period but did not specify a monetary figure in the extracted text.