Newsflash: Collective consultation – an update

What do we already know?

In our February 2015 Newsflash Collective consultation – an update we told you that the Advocate General of the CJEU (Advocate General Wahl) had given his Opinion in the case of USDAW v Woolworths that collective consultation is not triggered whenever planned redundancies, or changes to terms and conditions add up to 20 or more across the whole of the UK business.

We previously updated you in our February 2014 Newsflash Collective Consultation – an update that the Court of Appeal had referred the case to the CJEU (formerly known as the ECJ).

What’s new?

The CJEU has now given its decision. Good news! The CJEU has followed the Advocate General’s Opinion and has confirmed that collective consultation is not triggered whenever planned redundancies, or changes to terms and conditions add up to 20 or more across the whole of the UK business. Instead the trigger is at least 20 employees from a particular establishment within a period of 90 days. The CJEU also provides further guidance on what is meant by an ‘establishment’.

The case now goes back to the Court of Appeal which will no doubt overturn the EAT’s decision.

We will update you further on this decision and its implications in our May Newsletter so watch this space.