Under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (‘TULRCA’), where an employer is proposing to make 20 or more employees redundant at one establishment within a 90 day period, it must:

• Inform;
• Consult; and
• Notify the Department for the Economy.

In the redundancy context, an employee means an individual who has entered into or works under a contract of services or apprenticeship. Therefore, it is clear that it is employment status rather than length of service which is important. For thoroughness, it is worth noting that the following roles are excluded from the definition of ‘employee’ under TULRCA:

• Most employees of the PSNI;
• Crown employees;
• Parliamentary staff; and
• Fixed term employees.

Although length of service is immaterial for the purposes of triggering a collective redundancy, it will come in to play if employees who were made redundant wish to bring unfair dismissal claims at the Industrial Tribunal in relation to their selection for redundancy or their entitlement to a statutory redundancy payment. In order to be eligible to bring such claims, employees will usually need to have a minimum of 12 months continuous service. However, if the claim is in relation to selection for redundancy on a prescribed ground such as pregnancy, this is deemed automatically unfair and therefore length of service is irrelevant.

Please note, although the statutory obligations to inform and consult apply in situations where 20 or more employees will be dismissed in a 90 day period, it is often prudent to consult with employees in situations where close to 20 employees will be dismissed.