Legal Members: P O’Hagan & S Cardownie Mr R Higgins & Others v Limited (in Liquidation) — 2025

The claimants alleged breach of section 145B of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 after the respondent implemented a 5% pay increase across UK sites following different ballot outcomes at Barony and Hexham. The tribunal found that employees at Barony did not have a contractual right to the same pay increase as Hexham employees; the harmonisation materials did not clearly displace the separate collective bargaining arrangements for the two plants.

The tribunal found that collective negotiations at Barony had reached an impasse by April 2024. It accepted that the respondent had sought further information from the Barony representatives, remained willing to discuss matters including through ACAS, and communicated directly with staff because it wanted employees to understand the rationale for the offer and because Hexham employees had accepted it.

The tribunal concluded that the respondent had shown its sole or main purpose in making the offer was not to achieve the prohibited result of bypassing collective bargaining. Its main purpose was found to be fairness across both sites in the context of a harmonised workforce. The section 145B claim was therefore dismissed.