From 6 April 2026, the maximum protective award that an employment tribunal (ET) can make for a failure to comply with collective redundancy consultation obligations will double from 90 days’ actual gross pay to 180 days’ actual gross pay per affected employee.
This change significantly increases the financial risk for employers who do not follow the collective consultation rules correctly, and makes getting the process right more important than ever.
The Government has indicated that the increased protective award will apply to any dismissals that take place on or after 6 April 2026. That is not clear from the legislation and another potential interpretation would be that it applies to consultation processes that commence on or after 6 April 2026. However, there is a significant risk that it will apply to any ongoing collective consultation processes that do not conclude until after 6 April 2026, and is therefore not to be ignored by employers who are carrying out or considering embarking on collective redundancy consultation processes.
A protective award is a remedy an ET can award where an employer has failed to comply with its statutory duty to inform and consult appropriate employee representatives in a collective redundancy situation.
If a protective award is made, the employer will be required to pay compensation to affected employees for a “protected period”. The length of that period is decided by the ET.
The ET has discretion when...
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