Claimant v Weir & McQuiston (Scotland) Ltd, In Administration — 2022

This was a combined final hearing by telephone in which the three claimants appeared in person and the respondent, Weir & McQuiston (Scotland) Limited in Administration, did not appear. The tribunal noted that the respondent had entered appearance but did not defend the claims, and it amended the respondent name to the correct company. All three claims were for a protective award arising from the respondent's failure to consult before dismissing employees by email on 11 November 2021.

The tribunal found that the respondent employed more than 100 employees and that the Wishaw premises, not the individual work sites in Dumbarton or Edinburgh, was the relevant establishment for section 188 TULRCA purposes. It held that the Wishaw premises had the permanence, stability, workforce and organisational structure required of an establishment, whereas the sites where the claimants worked lacked those features because they were generally client or main-contractor sites. The tribunal therefore found that the consultation obligation was triggered by the decision on 11 November 2021 to make all employees redundant, and that the scale of the dismissals required 45 days' consultation.

The tribunal found there was no advance warning of dismissal, no consultation with employees or representatives, no recognised trade union, and no election of employee representatives. It rejected the suggestion that insolvency alone justified a failure to consult. Applying section 189 of TULRCA and starting from the position that the protected period should be 90 days, with reference to Sus/Radin Limited v GMB, the tribunal held that the complaints were well founded and awarded a protective award beginning on 11 November 2021 for 90 days. The reasons do not set out a separate monetary figure for each claimant or a total sum.