Collective Redundancy

Expected 2027

Under the current law, any employer proposing 20 or more redundancies at one “establishment” within a period of 90 days must go through a process of collective redundancy consultation, which essentially means informing and consulting appropriate representatives of affected employees. A failure to comply with the collective consultation obligations can result in claims for a “protective award” of up to 90 days’ pay for each affected employee (which can already be a significant liability).

The new legislation keeps the current threshold of 20 or more employees at one establishment but adds a new threshold that will apply across the whole organisation, with the  details of new threshold to be defined in regulations.

The new legislation also doubles the maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult, from 90 to 180 days’ pay. This change is due to take effect from April 2026.