Before being made redundant, there must be a consultation process.
If there are fewer than 20 redundancies, this is usually an individual consultation process. However, where the number of redundancies is 20 or more, consultation must take place with a recognised trade union or elected/suitable employee representatives and commence at least 30 days before you are made redundant.
If you have been made redundant without a consultation process or you feel the consultation process was inadequate, you could claim up to 90 days’ pay by making a Protective Award claim.
There is no minimum length of service required to make a Protective Award claim. However, you must meet two conditions:
Our expert employment solicitors are industry leaders in these types of claims and have recovered millions of pounds in compensation for thousands of redundant employees. Our team handles Protective Award claims on a no win, no fee basis. This means you do not need to pay any legal fees unless your claim is successful.
We have secured the maximum protective award in a number of high-profile cases such as Thomas Cook, CityLink, Phones4u and Poundworld which received national press attention.
If you are one of 20 made redundant at the same workplace your employer has a legal duty to provide information and engage in consultation.
When collective redundancies take place without adequate consultation, affected employees have claims for a Protective Award.
These Protective Awards can provide for compensation of up to a maximum of 90 days’ gross pay each affected employee.
With as much information as you can regarding your redundancy.
We will gather and review any further evidence we need to support your case. If your case has good prospects, we may be able to act for you and your colleagues on a no win no fee basis.
Once we have agreed to act, we will submit your claim via ACAS and, if needs be, an Employment Tribunal.
Our solicitors will explore the possibility of a resolution without a full hearing, although this isn’t always possible.
If it cannot be resolved beforehand, a Tribunal hearing will take place for a decision to be made, at which you will be represented.
You could be entitled to up to 90 days’ pay.
If the employer is insolvent, compensation is recoverable from the government’s insolvency service (subject to limits) or in any other case from the employer direct.
If an employer proposes to make 20 or more employees redundant at one workplace, it must inform and consult workplace representatives. Consultation must last for a minimum of 30 days (where between 20 and 99 redundancies are made) or 45 days (where 100 or more redundancies are made). This is known as a “collective consultation”.
If the employer fails to comply with those duties, a “protective award” can be made, which is the name for the compensation payable to each redundant employee.
Protective Award compensation isn’t the same as notice pay or redundancy pay – it’s a claim for additional compensation for the lack of information and consultation.
The maximum award an Employment Tribunal can make is 90 days’ gross pay, but this can be reduced in certain circumstances.
Where the company is insolvent, up to 8 weeks of that award can be recovered from the government’s Insolvency Service.
There is generally a time limit of 3 months (less one day) from the date you are made redundant, within which to pursue this claim in the Employment Tribunal. This is subject to any extension through use of the ACAS Early Conciliation process.
To be eligible you must have been an employee (not self-employed) and you must be 1 of 20 or more people made redundant (or to be made redundant shortly) at a single workplace (or “establishment”).
If you were field-based or worked across different sites, you might be eligible to make a claim depending on the facts of your case. It depends on the nature of your role, the number of individuals that work in the same way, and how your workplace (establishment) is defined.
If representatives were elected for redundancy consultation or there was an existing employee forum or recognised union, the representative(s) have to pursue the Protective Award claim for you. You must therefore identify whether representatives were in place, if so, and make sure they join you in making a claim.
These claims don’t depend on your length of service – you might only have been employed a matter of weeks before being made redundant and it wouldn’t matter.
A claim must generally be made to an Employment Tribunal within 3 months (less a day) from the date you were made redundant, subject to any extension of time that might be granted for completing ACAS Early Conciliation within that period.
If your claim isn’t lodged in time, it could automatically fail. You must therefore act quickly.
The maximum award an Employment Tribunal can make is 90 days’ gross pay but this can be reduced in certain circumstances.
Where the company is insolvent, it is likely that only a proportion of the compensation awarded by the Tribunal will be recovered via the government’s Insolvency Service (see below).
In cases of insolvency the government’s Insolvency Service can pay Protective Award compensation out of the National Insurance Fund but only if you have a Tribunal judgment. The amount is limited to a maximum of 8 weeks’ gross pay and is subject to statutory limits, less amounts already paid to you any arrears of pay. You can find out more about Protective Awards, Insolvency and Redundancies here.
We deal with all Protective Award claims on a no win, no fee basis. That means that you will not need to pay anything unless your case is successful.
Legal fees and expenses are only payable at the end of the case, from the compensation you recover. Each person contributes to the overall costs and the more people we have in the litigation group, the lower the costs. If you lose, you don’t pay anything.
If you are a trade union member you must contact your union and seek their support in pursuing a claim. Trade union membership is by far the best way of funding these types of claim, as legal assistance is usually a benefit of membership, and you won’t therefore have any fees to pay.
You must let us know if trade unions operate within the company generally. We need to check whether you were part of a trade union bargaining unit as it may impact on how the claim can be pursued.
Our experienced employment solicitors are national experts in Protective Award claims. In the past, we have represented:
It is essential to have a specialist employment solicitor on your side when making a Protective Award claim. These types of claims are complex and not widely understood, making the chances of a positive outcome much higher when you have an experienced lawyer on your side.
There are several procedural and technical pitfalls that could lead to your claim being rejected. If the claim is defended (for example because of “special circumstances”) or you cannot secure permission from the Insolvency Courts to proceed, you could lose altogether.
The process of securing compensation is also time consuming, often taking 12 to 18 months. We can handle the whole Tribunal and Court process for you from start to finish, making sure you have the best chance of winning your case.
Our Employment Rights team has a longstanding reputation for helping clients with a variety of employment law claims, including discrimination.
We understand that your circumstances are unique, and that’s why we’re careful to listen to your situation and provide the best possible solutions to support you.
As a Yorkshire-based firm, you can benefit from our competitive rates. We believe in representing people, not large organisations, which is why we aim to provide expert advice, personable service, and excellent value for money.
All our services can be provided at your convenience either in-person, over the phone or by email or post. So, it doesn’t matter where you live, we’ll always be here to support you.
Want more information? Contact a member of our team today.
“Daniel who dealt with us was professional understanding and patient, he kept us up to date with progress of our settlement.”
Employee Client, September 2019.
The service we received was exceptional, we were kept in formed at every step. The whole experience was dealt with in a very professional manner.
Employment Rights Client, January 2022.
