The court asked at what point the European Directive imposed a duty to consult on an employer contemplating redundancies.
Held: The words ‘is contemplating’ referred to a point before proposals were formulated. Obiter, Blackburne J said ‘the obligation to consult only arises when the employer’s contemplation of redundancies has reached the point where he is able to identify the workers likely to be affected and can supply the information which the Article requires him to supply . . I cannot see that the Article requires the employer to embark upon the process of consultation at any particular moment, much less as soon as he can be said to have in mind that collective redundancies may occur. The essential point to my mind, is that the consultation must be one where, if they wished to do so, the workers’ representatives can make constructive proposals and have time in which to do so before the relevant dismissal notices are sent out. This process cannot sensibly begin until, as it seems to me, a point has been reached where the information identified in Article 2 (3) is available.’
Judges:
Blackburne J
Citations:
[1995] IRLR 15
Cited by:
Cited – MSF v Refuge Assurance Plc, United Friendly Insurance EAT 15-Feb-2002
EAT The EAT considered the employer’s duties to consult on making redundancies. The ET had found that company had satisfied the requirements. The Union argued that the duty to consult arose as soon as . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment, European
Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.421398
