This page references protective award figures and a proposed 2027 reform to the collective consultation trigger — always check GOV.UK for the current position.
Introduction
Collective redundancy consultation is an area where the underlying business decision can be entirely genuine and sound, and the process around it can still create very significant financial exposure. This guide covers what actually triggers the duty, what compliance genuinely requires, and where employers most often get caught out.
Table of Contents
- When Collective Consultation Duties Are Triggered
- Who You Must Consult
- What You’re Required to Disclose
- The HR1 Notification Duty: A Separate, Easily Missed Obligation
- The “Special Circumstances” Defence Is Narrower Than It Sounds
- Why This Risk Compounds With Individual Claims
- A Reform Worth Watching
- Contact Us for Employment Tribunal Support
- Final Thoughts
- Frequently Asked Questions
When Collective Consultation Duties Are Triggered
The duty to collectively consult arises where you’re proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period. It’s worth being careful with the word “proposing” — the duty is triggered at the point redundancies are genuinely being considered as a strategy, not once a final decision has already been made, which is a distinction employers sometimes get backwards in practice.
Who You Must Consult
Where a recognised independent trade union exists for the affected employees, you must consult with it. Where none exists, you must consult with elected employee representatives, and arranging a fair election process is itself part of the obligation — simply proceeding without any representative body because none was already in place is a compliance failure in its own right, not a way around the duty.
What You’re Required to Disclose
The consultation has to be genuine, which means providing specific information in writing: the reasons for the proposals, the numbers and descriptions of employees affected, the proposed method of selecting those to be dismissed, the proposed method and timing of carrying out the dismissals, and how any non-standard redundancy payments would be calculated. Consultation that begins without this information properly disclosed is difficult to characterise as genuine, however collaborative the discussions that follow might feel.
The HR1 Notification Duty: A Separate, Easily Missed Obligation
This is worth flagging specifically, since it is a distinct legal duty many employers aren’t aware of even when they’ve handled the employee consultation side correctly. Where 20 or more redundancies are proposed, you must also notify the Secretary of State, using form HR1, before any dismissal notices take effect — at least 30 days beforehand for 20 to 99 proposed redundancies, or 45 days for 100 or more. Failing to notify, without a valid special circumstances defence, is a criminal offence, entirely separate from any civil liability to affected employees. This obligation is easy to overlook precisely because it runs alongside, rather than instead of, the employee-facing consultation process.
The “Special Circumstances” Defence Is Narrower Than It Sounds
There is a defence available where special circumstances make full compliance with the consultation timetable genuinely not reasonably practicable, but it’s applied narrowly by tribunals, and general business pressure or a tight commercial deadline rarely qualifies on its own. Where it might genuinely apply — a sudden, unforeseeable insolvency event is the clearest example — the employer is still expected to comply with whatever steps were reasonably practicable in the circumstances, rather than treating the defence as an exemption from the duty entirely.
Why This Risk Compounds With Individual Claims
A failure to properly collectively consult creates a distinct exposure — a protective award payable to each affected employee — that sits entirely separately from any individual unfair dismissal claims those same employees might also bring if their own selection or consultation wasn’t handled fairly. Because the protective award applies per employee across the whole affected group, the total exposure in a genuinely large redundancy round can be vast. Under s.189(4) of TULRCA 1992, a tribunal can award up to 90 days’ gross pay per affected employee (with no statutory cap on weekly pay). For a business restructuring 30 employees, a full 90-day award across the group can easily create a six-figure liability, making collective consultation compliance a top-priority risk management exercise.
A Reform Worth Watching
It’s worth knowing that the collective consultation trigger itself may change. Alongside the existing “one establishment” threshold, a further organisation-wide threshold is expected to be introduced around 2027, though the exact detail hasn’t yet been settled in regulations. Given how significant the current per-employee exposure already is, it’s worth checking the current position closely as this develops rather than assuming the existing rules will remain unchanged indefinitely.
Contact Us for Employment Tribunal Support
Getting collective consultation right — the timing, the disclosure, the HR1 notification, and the individual selection process running alongside it — is considerably easier to manage well from the outset than to correct once a redundancy process is already underway.
Final Thoughts
Collective consultation risk is often underestimated precisely because the underlying redundancy decision can be entirely legitimate. The consultation process, the HR1 notification, and the individual selection running alongside it all deserve close attention in their own right — and given how the protective award compounds across an entire affected group, the cost of getting this wrong can meaningfully exceed the cost of getting individual dismissals wrong. If you’re weighing up the full range of options once a dispute is underway, that higher collective exposure is worth factoring in early.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the collective consultation duty apply?
Where you’re proposing to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a 90-day period, triggered once redundancies are genuinely being considered as a strategy, not only once a final decision is made.
Who has to be consulted?
A recognised independent trade union where one exists, or elected employee representatives where it doesn’t — arranging a fair election process is itself part of the legal obligation.
What is the HR1 form and why does it matter?
It’s a separate notification to the Secretary of State, required before dismissal notices take effect for 20 or more proposed redundancies. Failing to submit it without a valid defence is a criminal offence, distinct from any liability to employees.
Is there a defence for not complying with the consultation timetable?
A narrow “special circumstances” defence exists, but tribunals apply it strictly, and general business or commercial pressure rarely qualifies on its own.
How does collective consultation risk relate to individual unfair dismissal claims?
They’re separate but often compound — a protective award for failing to collectively consult sits alongside any individual unfair dismissal claims from employees whose own selection or consultation wasn’t handled fairly.
Is the collective consultation threshold changing?
A further organisation-wide threshold is expected around 2027, alongside the existing per-establishment trigger, though the detail hasn’t yet been finalised in regulations.