Claimant v Vehicle Conversion Specialists Limited (In Administration)
Outcome
Individual claims
The First Respondent dismissed 140 employees by reason of redundancy on 27 November 2023 without any consultation with employees, trade union representatives, or employee representatives. The First Respondent did not invite employees to elect representatives for consultation purposes, constituting a complete failure to comply with section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. There were no circumstances which would render it not reasonably practicable for the First Respondent to comply with the consultation requirements.
Facts
Vehicle Conversion Specialists Limited went into administration on 20 November 2023. Between 20-23 November, employees were told to continue working as normal. On 27 November 2023, the company dismissed 140 employees by reason of redundancy from a single establishment in Bradford. There was no consultation whatsoever with employees, no recognised trade unions, no elected employee representatives, and no invitation to employees to elect representatives for consultation purposes.
Decision
The tribunal found the First Respondent had completely failed to comply with its obligations under section 188 of TULR(C)A 1992 to consult about collective redundancies. Given this was a total failure to consult on a large-scale redundancy, the tribunal awarded the maximum protective period of 90 days remuneration to each of the 90 claimants, beginning from the dismissal date of 27 November 2023.
Practical note
A complete failure to conduct any collective redundancy consultation, even in an administration situation, will result in the maximum 90-day protective award for affected employees.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 1806208/2024
- Decision date
- 8 May 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 1
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- transport
- Represented
- No
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister