Where an employer is consulting with an affected employee as part of a redundancy process, would it impact on the fairness of the process in relation to that employee if the employer were to continue with redundancy consultations while they were on holiday for two weeks, or must the employer suspend consultation until the employee returns to work, in order for its obligation to act reasonably in all the circumstances to be discharged?

Where an employer is proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more employees within any period of 90 days or less, it will be under a statutory duty to comply with collective consultation obligations (section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992)). For further information about collective consultation, see Practice Notes: Collective redundancy—statutory information and consultation obligations and Redundancy—fair procedure: collective consultation.

Whether or not the statutory obligation to consult collectively arises, the requirement to consult with affected employees, individually, is relevant for the purposes of determining the fairness of any dismissal occurring by reason of redundancy under Part X of the Employment