Early meaningful consultation must take place with affected staff even where numbers are low. A recent EAT decision, Joseph De Bank Haycocks v ADP RPO UK, illustrates that employers are obliged to consult with staff at the earliest opportunity, where there is a risk of redundancy, even if collective consultation is not triggered. In the above case Joseph De Bank Haycocks was scored lowest from a pool of at-risk staff and selected for redundancy along with a colleague. A two-week consultation period then took place and De Banks Haycocks attended three meetings, at the last one he was given notice of termination on the grounds of redundancy. De Banks Haycocks claimed unfair dismissal and that he had not known how he had been scored against the selection criteria and how his scores compared to those of colleagues. He won his appeal at EAT, the decision highlighting that a failure to give employees the opportunity to influence the employer’s decision at a formative stage of the process may lead to a finding of unfair dismissal regardless of the numbers of staff involved.
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