[Thanks to James Medhurst of Employment Law Advocates for providing this case summary]
The EAT (Slade J) has handed down its decision in Nationwide Building Society v Benn, which is authority for the proposition that, where there has been a dismissal in the context of a TUPE transfer, it is an error of law for a tribunal to take into account a breach of the consultation requirements in concluding that the dismissal was unfair, in circumstances in which there has been no successful claim for a failure to consult. In this case, no such claim had even been pleaded. However, it would be permissible to take into account the extent of consultation, both collective and individual, about changes to terms and conditions.
An individual employee has no standing to bring a claim for a failure to consult in a case in which employee representatives have been elected but the consultation with those representatives is said to have been inadequate. Such a claim can only be brought by the elected representatives.
In order for there to be an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce, it is not necessary for the entire workforce to be affected by the changes. It is sufficient for the changes to affect the transferred employees only.
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