Consultation, consultation, consultation. The worst crimes imaginable can nip under the radar if you only sit your employees down and talk about how terribly dreadful the situation is, but needs must, and what can we do to make the blow easier? Compulsory collective consultation in redundancy situations involving 20 or more job losses has been around for over thirty years, but we still see new developments.
If you, a company, are contemplating making 20+ redundancies at one establishment within ninety days, you have to spend at least 30 days in consultation prior to the first dismissal. If it’s 100+ redundancies, it’s 90 days. Fail to do this, and your employees can apply to the tribunal for a “protective award”. I personally have never understood the term – it’s a fine for non-compliance, nothing less. A protective award = 90 days’ pay. So, let’s say you’re making 25-odd employees redundant, which indicates in itself you haven’t bags of cash lying around, if you don’t give ‘em 30 days’ worth of consultation (no matter how little effect it might have on the final result) then you cop for 90 days’ pay to each of them. What’s that? 90 days? But we were only supposed to consult for 30! Tough. It’s a fine. You should have done it properly. This idea, following Susie Radin in 2004 which finally clarified the award as punitive, has been backed up by the EAT. This particular case has been notified all over the employment news-o-sphere, but I suspect it’s simply the first cock-up to be appealed rather than any shift in practice for most tribunals.
The company that I worked for went into administration the same day as we were all made reduntant- approx 160 no.
The Employment Tribunal awarded myself and 2 other colleagues a Protective Award, but now the administrators have stated that it is not their problem and have forwarded the letter to the Redindancy Office.
Should they not have known about this as they are the “so called proffessionals”
Do you know whether the payment due is a capped figure or 90 days pay at the salary when made redundant. They also state that I am an unsecured creditor but surely as an employee I am secured
I have just been through the same thing as yourself and won our 90 day protective awards pay by the judge, now the insolvency company say they have no money to pay us. We are getting our money through the Redundant Payments Office who say they only pay for 8 weeks and will stop off us our wages what they have already paid us so i cannot see the point of the judge giving us 90 days when we will end up with next to nothing
Pauline, I implore you to go back to your ET office and chase them up. You SHOULDN’T have wages removed from a protective award as it is punitive award against an employer not strictly an entitlement.
Lest that is how my ET in Northern Ireland saw it
I would like to know, should a Protective Award be made by a tribunal, who is reponsible for making the payments of the awards made to the former employees. Particularly as in most cases the employers are in Administration.
Could you set out what deductions are able to be made from any awards made.
Can anyone tell me if there is a time limit on a Protective Award .
I was made redundant last year and have just found out that some of
my colleagues have now been awarded a payment and there are a lot more
of us that have had nothing because we did not know that we could apply for
it ?
Hi Kathleen
Claims have to be lodged;
within three months of the the period of three months beginning with the date on which the last of the dismissals to which the complaint relates takes effect. S189 (5) of the Trade Union and Labour Relation Consultation Act 1992.
or
where the tribunal is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the complaint to be presented [during the] period of three months, within such further period as it considers reasonable. (s189 (5)(c)
So a tribunal may still hear a claim but you would have to argue why it was not reasonably practicable for you to have lodged your claim within the three months.
Well here’s my experience for anyone in the same position.
Made redundant, they gave everyone about a weeks notice (i was away on holiday) so by the time i got back…finished.
Since found out my ex management went to tribunal and got a protective award, the ‘court’ awarded 70 days pay, very nice, just sit back and wait they said.
Got my letter today…award made as stated…BUT, only the first £800 is ‘preferential’ as the employer has gone into liqidation.
So, rather than several thousand, i’ll get £800, the remainer joins the list of unsecured creditors and i may or may not get a percentage of that back.
The £800 is subject to DWP claiming back any benefits i have claimed. Under normal circumstances, that’d be it all in the bin then, but i’ve already paid back what i claimed when i got my redundancy or payment in lieu (can’t remember which right now)
Another line states, the protective award may be subject to the deduction of National Insurance contributions.
Its never what it seems is it ?
I was suspicious at first, it all seemed too good to be true. Still, i get what i get and wasnt expecting anything a few months ago, so silver linings and all that !!!
Update on my previous…
Brought to my attention, i stated only £800 of my award is preferential, the remainder would come from the creditors ….thats no so. I’m told that i can claim up to 8 weeks ( i think) from the redundancy office as my ex employer is insolvent.
Many thanks to the person giving that info.