Challenging a non meaningful consultation

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I'm going through restructuring process at the moment and we are at the statutory consultation stage. we have appointed some employee reps who have been acting as a conduit for information - but have been given information by the employers that they are told they can not share with affected staff. they only started the consultation process after we asked for one as I think they though they could restructure without consulting staff.

The business has also restructuring all internal reporting etc in line with the new structure before the consultation period has finished and updated internal corporate information with the new proposed structure.

As part of the consultation we have been told that we can make an alternative restructuring proposal - however we have not been given a detailed financial breakdown so can't see if our proposal is going to save any money.

If we go through the consultation period (the business has said that it will not extend the 30 consultation period) and there is no change to the original restructuring plans is there any way to challenge the process especially if we have evidence that demonstrates that the consultation was not meaningful?

help!

Are the employee reps union members, or is there a recognised union? If so, the union should be at the forefront of this.

If not (and it sounds like not), get in touch with ACAS as soon as you can, for information about rights, how to challenge, etc. If you and your fellow employees want to band together, you could always hire an employment lawyer. I had to consult an employment lawyer as part of my redundancy once (the fee was paid by the company, a rate negotiated by my union).

Your employers should behave itself better if it knows there is external, expert scrutiny/involvement.

Good luck. A non-meaningful consultation is demoralising.

aargh - employerS behave ITSELF better?
Shame on me.

thank you - no - none of the reps are union members - the business doesn't recognise a union either.

we were thinking about hiring an employment lawyer - how do you go about getting recommendations? would a lawyer take on a group? how much would it cost?

ACAS have been pretty useless and only told us what we know should be happening.

yes - it is incredible demoralising at the moment.

I agree it sounds as though consultation isn't meaningful at all. In terms of what you (plural) can do about it, you should ensure your employee reps raise those concerns on your behalf, putting on record that you believe the consultation to be meaningless and pointing out your evidence for believing that.

Then (assuming this involves people being made redundant), if/when people lose their jobs they should clearly states any procedural problems including a lack of meaningful consultation in their appeals and, if it gets to that stage, in their tribunal claims. How many redundancies are we talking?

thank you flowery
over 50 people have received an 'at risk' of redundancy letter. the current proposed new structure does has alternative positions to apply for so not all will be made redundant.

Now you're getting out of my depth, I'm afraid. My union had negotiated rates with the law firm, and the company paid that fee; that was part of the settlement I was being offered, so I was in a lucky position.

As for finding a lawyer, here's a quick search on employment law. Your location should help you to narrow that down.

Anyone with household insurance might have legal advice included in their package, so canvass you fellow employees to see whether anyone can/is willing to consult someone for an idea of costs, your position and joint representation.

Which? have a WhichLocal site where people post reviews of local businesses. I have used it for car body shop recommendations. If anyone is a which.co.uk subscriber, or would like to sign up for the £1 one month trial, that could be another resource. Which? also has advice on various legal issues and rights.

Sorry I am not an expert, but your post hadn't got any responses, so I thought I'd start the ball rolling.

Oops, cross-post!

I was an employee rep a while back and we sought legal advice from a top law firm about process (similar situation - decisions made and in many ways the company 'went through the motions'). If you are likely to receive more than statutory redundancy then will be in a catch 22, because you will be asked to sign a compromise agreement (meaning you cannot claim for unfair process) and if you refuse to sign you then lose the enhanced redundancy.

BTW, We managed to get ALL legal advice for free by promising to 'recommend' the lawyers to the employees as lawyer of choice for signing compromise agreements.

thanks both - no enhanced redundancy payout unfortunately.

it is in the not for profit sector though so perhaps we could convince them to do some work pro bono!!!

stillsquiffy - did you have any training once you were recognised as an employee rep? ours have been told there isn't time for training as they won't be extending the consultation period

No training but 2 of us were employment law specialists already so it wasn't an issue - the others in our group were refused training AFAIR. We requested and were refused access to paid legal advice, which was why we went down the route of negotiating an arrangement for free advice.