Legal News

Tribunal rules over redundancy consultation

27/04/2010

A major university has been ordered to pay 60 day’s salary to dozens of staff whose contracts were terminated without proper consultation.

In total, 89 employees launched claims against Lancaster University after the terms and conditions of their fixed-term contracts were broken during wholesale redundancies.

Up to 30 of the employees, all members of the University and College Union (UCU), are likely to be compensated by Lancaster University after an Employment Tribunal ruled that a statutory duty to consult with unions if planning 20 or more redundancies was breached.

The university claimed that identifying staff whose contracts it would not renew was a form of consultation with the union. However, the Tribunal ruled that simply providing lists was not the meaningful consultation law requires.

"Since the employer's obligation is to consult about his proposals to dismiss, it follows that for those employees engaged upon fixed-term or limited-term contracts, the employer must consult before making any final decision not to renew the contract,” ruled the tribunal.

Sally Hunt, UCU General Secretary, claimed the ruling provides clarification on the rights of more than 170,000 higher education staff currently on fixed-term contracts.

"Universities have to understand that they cannot just wait for fixed-term contracts to expire and then get rid of staff," she said.

“Despite specific guidance agreed by the employers and trade unions to discourage the abuse of fixed-term contracts, universities seem to be ignoring it and persisting with short-term and short-sighted employment practices. The best brains in Britain are held in positions of insecurity and it is no wonder that many may look for jobs abroad or outside higher education.”

While the university maintains it followed prior agreements with the UCU, the ruling will be welcomed by union members worried that the recession and inevitable job cuts may have clouded their employment rights.