Comment from Kevin Charles, a Director of Crossland Employment Solicitors in reaction to The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)'s decision today concerning The ‘Woolworths' Case – USDAW v Ethel Austin Ltd (in administration) & Ors.
The Advocate General's opinion, handed down this morning by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the Woolworths' Case -USDAW v Ethel Austin Ltd (in administration) & Ors, is a positive outcome for large employers. The Attorney General has ruled that allowing employers to count the number of potential redundancies at each establishment is not contrary to EU law.
It will be up to a tribunal to decide, in each particular case, on what constitutes a separate establishment. This decision will be very warmly welcomed by employers who will no doubt breathe a huge sigh of relief. It restores the orthodox position in looking at each separate shop or factory or local employment units when considering whether the threshold for collective consultation has been triggered.
If the Advocate General's opinion is followed by the European Court, employers will be able to revert back to the pre-June 2014 days (before the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal), and consider each ‘establishment' that they operate separately when adding up the numbers and only if there are 20 or more potential redundancies in a 90 day period at that establishment are they obliged to consult recognised unions. If there are no recognised unions, they will have to ask those affected employees to elect representatives.” New study reveals that over nine out of ten employers pay Acas mediated settlements to claimants
A new study published today has revealed that over nine out of ten (93 percent) people have received compensation payments through Acas mediated settlements without the need for enforcement. This compares to only 53 percent who had received pay awards granted to them by Employment Tribunals without resorting to enforcement. Acas conciliation is a free voluntary service that tries to resolve workplace disputes between employers and their workers before they reach the more serious stage of an employment tribunal. An Acas conciliator can broker a formal settlement through a legally binding agreement. The research ‘Payment of Acas conciliated settlements’ followed up individual cases that had been resolved by Acas between January and the end of March 2014.
Acas Chair Sir Brendan Barber said: “This new research reveals that most employers pay out compensation when it has been agreed through an Acas settlement. It shows the crucial value of Acas' impartial conciliation services in securing agreed settlements to disputes. But the low compliance rate with tribunal awards remains a major concern. Our new free Early Conciliation service continues to help people resolve their disputes. We are dealing with around 1600 cases a week and dealt with nearly 40,000 cases in the first six months of operation.”
The research looked at Acas settlements in disputes that had the potential to be tribunal cases (Pre-Claim Conciliation) and cases where Acas provides conciliation to individuals after an Employment Tribunal claim has been lodged (Individual Conciliation) before the introduction of Early Conciliation in April 2014. The study also looked at the types of workplaces, compensation amounts for pay awards and the topics of the disputes that Acas had settled. It found that: “Most settled disputes related to unfair dismissal (61 percent) followed by wages claims (13 percent); The average compensation payout was £3000; and the vast majority of settled disputes were from the private sector (80 percent) with 14 percent from the public sector and five percent in the charity or not for profit sector.
