UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Paolo Palmigiano, Rachael Roberts, Helen Farr, Debbie Heywood and Louise Popple, Taylor Wessing LLP
the dismissal is for a reason like pregnancy or other discriminatory reason. In the case of redundancies, the following pro - cess must be followed. • If an employer proposes to make redundant 20 or more employees within a period of 90 days or less at one establishment (ie, the employees’ local workplace rather than the organisation as a whole), then it must consult collectively with elected employee represent - atives, as well as notify the Secretary of State. Consultation should start in good time before any redundancies are confirmed. • Any dismissals should not take effect until at least: (a) 30 days after an employer’s consultation obligations have been triggered, where between 20 and 99 redundancies are proposed; or (b) 45 days after an employer’s consultation obligations have been triggered, where 100 or more redundancies are proposed. • If an employee is made redundant and they have more than two years’ service, they will qualify for a statutory redundancy payment. 4.5 Employee Representations The following rules apply for collective consulta - tion: • an employer must collectively consult employees if they propose to make redundant 20 or more employees at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less; • employers must consult with a trade union or employee representative about the redun - dancy process; and • failure to comply with the legal requirement for collective consultation can result in claims to the employment tribunal and an award
of up to 90 days’ full pay for each affected employee. The following rules apply with respect to griev - ances and disciplinary hearings: • employees and workers have a legal right to be accompanied, by a trade union repre - sentative or another employee, to grievance meetings or disciplinary hearings that can result in a disciplinary action against them; • if an employee seeks the right to be accom - panied, they must make a reasonable request; • during a hearing, a representative may set out the employee’s case, respond for the employ - ee to any comments, talk to the employee during the hearing or take notes; and • denying an employee the right to be accom - panied by an employer could amount to a breach of an implied duty of trust and confi - dence and render the process unfair. Rules apply with respect to TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)), as follows: • prior to a TUPE transfer, both the outgoing and incoming employers must inform and consult with staff representatives to set out any proposed changes and why the transfer is taking place; and • an employer will consult with an employee regarding any changes relating to work practices that will take place as part of the transfer. Applicable ICE Regulations (Information and Consultation of Employees) are as follows: • where an employer has 50 or more employ - ees in the organisation, the employees have
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