Collective consultations will be familiar territory for many employers, whether they are seeking to make distinct changes to terms and conditions or are looking to implement wider scale structural changes.
We don’t have to look too far to recall employers who have failed to fulfil their obligations when it comes to running these types of consultations.
We know this is a very current topic for many – at our recent HR Club where we gave practical advice on handling consultations, the vast majority of attendees told us they were planning to do a collective consultation within the next 6 months, and expressed concerns and worries about getting the process right. So in this article we want to share some practical tips on how to handle collective consultations successfully.
What is consultation and what are employers obliged to do?
The law requires that employers are obliged to consult with employee representatives if they are planning to dismiss 20 or more employees in a 90 day period if the reasons for those dismissals are because of redundancy or if the employer is proposing to terminate and re-engage employees.
There is a list specific information that needs to be provided in writing to employee representatives and then the law requires that the consultation should be on ways of:
- Avoiding the dismissals
- Reducing the number of employees to be dismissed
- Mitigating the consequences of the dismissals.
How to get the process right
Appreciating the legal context is only one part of the process however and often it is these other factors that employers don’t always consider. Below we have summarised the main points of our advice and best practice when doing consultations:
- Engage in the process in good faith and with empathy
- Understand your legal obligations – and consider legal advice
- Prepare thoroughly before you begin, including by preparing key people
- Have a clear business case for the proposal so that you can explain it to the employee representatives, prepare a timeline for the consultation, and prepare a meeting plan for each consultation meeting
- Allow sufficient time for the process, and plan for the unexpected
- Plan meetings and communications carefully
- Give appropriate support to reps and manage relationships carefully
- Be prepared to accept proposals that are made, and to give clear reasons where you don’t accept.
Getting the right support during a consultation can be a perfect solution to ensuring you manage the process effectively. At Narrow Quay HR we have assisted a number of clients with their collective consultations – for reasons such as redundancies, changes to terms and conditions (including for independent school clients with possible changes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme). We can support by providing scripts for consultation meetings, briefing relevant participants, training employee representatives, note taking and even chairing consultation meetings.
