Protective awards

If an employer fails to consult properly over redundancies, the union can go to a tribunal to get a "protective award" for every affected employee.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a protective award provides a sanction against the employer. This means that the job of the tribunal hearing the case is to focus on the seriousness of the employer's fault and whether it was deliberate, rather than on assessing what is needed to compensate employees.

Susie Radin v GMB and others, Court of Appeal A1/2003/1539