Collective consultation: when your employer proposes to dismiss over 20 employees

Yes, if an employer decides to change terms by seeking to dismiss and rehire 20 or more employees from one establishment within 90 days or less, the collective consultation rules apply. If fewer than 20 employees are affected, your employer should still do individual consultation with you to help you to understand the changes before they are made – see our page explaining your rights where your employer is seeking to change terms of employment.

You can write to your former employer and explain that you were entitled to be consulted with and that your employer is in breach of the rules on collective consultation and seek to negotiate a settlement.

Claims for breach of the rules for collective consultation need to be brought in the employment tribunal and claims under section 189 of TULRCA are covered by the rules on ACAS early conciliation.

There are important rules on who can bring a claim under section 189 of TULRCA. A claim may be brought by any of the affected employees or any employee who has been dismissed as redundant unless it is:

• a claim for failure to inform and consult a recognised trade union, this can only be brought by the trade union; or
• a claim for failure to inform and consult other appropriate representatives which can only be brought by one or more of the representatives to whom the failure relates.

A claim relating to a failure to arrange an election of employee representatives or to comply with the rules on elections can be brought by any of the affected employees or by any employee who has been dismissed as redundant.

If the employment tribunal upholds the complaint and finds that your employer has not followed the rules on collective consultation, it may make a protective award of up to 180 days’ pay per affected employee, regardless of whether or not you actually worked that period. (Prior to 6 April 2026 the protective award was up to 90 days’ pay per affected employee.) A protective award is a penalty rather than compensation and so any wages received in the period will not reduce the amount that is payable.

You should speak to your employee representative or recognised trade union, if you have one, and they may be able to make a claim on your behalf.

You can make a claim online here or by post.

Please be aware that there are strict time limits for making a claim to an employment tribunal. Claims must be made either before the last of the proposed dismissals takes effect or within the period of three months starting with the day on which the last dismissal occurs. Late claims are usually not accepted and you will need to have a very strong reason as to why your claim should be accepted and why it is late if it is.

You need to commence Early Conciliation via ACAS and receive an Early Conciliation certificate before you bring a claim. You can contact ACAS here

The same answer applies as in the case of redundancy (see question above).

Firstly, you have the right to fair selection criteria for redundancy. There are some selection criteria that your employer cannot use. For example, your employer cannot select you for redundancy because you are pregnant or on maternity leave, or because you have previously been a whistleblower.

A selection process and criteria should be transparent, objective, measurable, known by everyone it applies to and non-discriminatory.  All employees including those absent on unpaid leave, family leave or maternity leave should be consulted on selection criteria in advance.

Any impact this absence may have had on productivity, attendance, or performance should be disregarded in redundancy selection. Ideally this should be treated in a similar way to absence and performance concerns arising from pregnancy and maternity. EHRC has guidance for employers here.

See our redundancy pages for more detailed information.

If your employer decides to dismiss you then you are entitled to a notice period. This notice period will be the greater of:

• the statutory minimum notice period, which is one week’s notice for each year of continuous employment up to a maximum of 12 weeks – for example, if you have worked for your employer for five years then you would be entitled to five week’s notice but if you have worked for your employer for 15 years then you would be entitled to 12 week’s notice; and
• your contractual notice period, which should be stated in your employment contract.

If you have worked for your employer continuously for two years by the date of your notice period ending then you also have the rights to:

• receive statutory redundancy pay; and
• take reasonable time off to look for work or arrange training.

You should check if your employment contract includes the right to a contractual redundancy payment (which may be more than your statutory redundancy entitlement). If so, you will be entitled to receive that payment.

If you think you have been unfairly dismissed, i.e. if you think that redundancy was not the real reason for your dismissal or if you think that your employer did not follow a fair process, then you may be able to make a claim for unfair dismissal or discrimination or both. Again, you can make this claim online here or by post.

Please see the above response for the possible claims if your employer does not follow the rules on collective consultation.

If your employer is insolvent or cannot pay you then you can still apply to the National Insurance Fund for unpaid “employer’s payments”. This will cover your statutory redundancy payment and certain other sums due under your employment contract. For more information see our article on your rights if your employer is made insolvent