Mr F McGrath and Others v Volta Trucks Ltd (in Administration): 3312340/2023 and Others

EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS

Case No 3312340/2023

Between

Mr F McGrath and others (see schedule)Claimant

Volta Trucks Limited (in administration) RULE 22 JUDGMENT MADE PURSUANT TO RULE 22 OF THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS RULES OFRespondent

Date 16 May 2025

REASONS

[1]This judgment relates to the claims for a protective award made by employees of the respondent who were dismissed as redundant by the respondent on 18 October 2023. The claimants were employed at one the respondents establishments at Wokingham, Nuneaton, Lighthorne and London. At each establishment the respondent dismissed no less that 20 employees, a total of 531 employees were made redundant immediately upon the appointment of Administrators on 18 October 2023.

[2]The Joint Administrators have a response to the claim, and they do not resist this claim.

[3]Where the respondent has stated that no part of the claim is contested, the Tribunal must decide whether on the available material (which may include any further information which the parties are required by the Tribunal to provide), a determination can properly be made of the claim, or part of it. To the extent that a determination can be made, the Tribunal must issue a judgment accordingly, otherwise, a hearing must be fixed.

[4]There was no recognised trade union or existing body of employee representatives in respect of this redundancy.

[5]The respondent failed to arrange an election of employee representatives in respect of the redundancies that took place on 18 October 2023 and consequently also failed to consult with elected representatives prior to making the claimants redundant.

[6]The respondent does not put forward any opposition to the above facts in issue in its response.

[7]There has been a complete failure to comply with section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. In the case of GMB v Susie Radin Limited

[2004] IRLR 400

the Court of Appeal gave guidance to the employment tribunals. “45 I suggest that employment tribunals, in deciding in the exercise of their discretion whether to make a protective award and for what period, should have the following matters in mind.(1) The purpose of the award is to provide a sanction for breach by the employer of the obligations in section 188: it is not to compensate the employees for loss which they have suffered in consequence of the breach.

(2) The tribunal have a wide discretion to do what is just and equitable in all the circumstances, but he focus should be on the seriousness of the employer’s default.

(3) The default may vary in seriousness from the technical to a complete failure to provide any of the required information and to consult.

(4) The deliberateness of the failure may be relevant, as may the availability to the employer of legal advice about his obligations under section 188.

(5) How the tribunal assess the length of protected period is a matter for the tribunal, but a proper approach in a case where there has been consultation is to start with the maximum period and reduce it only if there are mitigating circumstances justifying a reduction to an extent which the Tribunal consider appropriate.”

[8]In this case there has been no consultation at all in respect of these redundancy dismissals, there are no mitigating circumstances that have been put forward so as to reduce the award from the maximum protective award of 90 days’ pay. Approved by: Employment Judge Gumbiti-Zimuto Date: 16 May 2025 ...... For the Tribunals Office 1307746/2023 Mr John Chettleburgh 1308881/2023 Mr Andrew Pyatt 3312340/2023 Mr Fergal McGrath 3313329/2023 Mr Laurence Stephens 3313330/2023 Mr Alastair Black 3313331/2023 Ms Olivia Rogers 3313332/2023 Ms Sophia Maude 3314611/2023 Mr Fergal McGrath 1300014/2024 Mr Michael Hill 1300016/2024 Ms Jo Anne Evans 1300019/2024 Mr Matthew Carter 1300176/2024 Mr Marc Wilson 1300177/2024 Mr Darren Wilson 1300183/2024 Mr Harpreet Gahir 1300221/2024 Mr James Edward Day 1300243/2024 Mr Srinivas Mucherla 3300014/2024 Mrs Katarzyna Glynn 3300493/2024 Mr Chris Homewood 3300494/2024 Mr Fergal McGrath 3300576/2024 Mr Chetan Padayachi 3300595/2024 Miss Katherine Rouse 3301953/2024 Mr Andrew Pyatt 3301954/2024 Mr Aadil Lakhi 3301955/2024 Mr Adam Sweet 3301956/2024 Mr Adam Hafejee 3301957/2024 Mr Adam Sas 3301958/2024 Ms Adriana Navarrete Fernandez 3301959/2024 Mr Aivaras Norkus 3301960/2024 Mr Alan Marron 3301961/2024 Mr Alasdair Gifford 3301962/2024 Mr Albert Keen 3301963/2024 Mr Alexander Chapman 3301964/2024 Mr Alexander Lipscomb 3301965/2024 Mr Alistair Pickles 3301966/2024 Ms Amanda Charley 3301967/2024 Mr Amarjit Ghatora 3301968/2024 Ms Amelia Mcdonald 3301969/2024 Ms Amy Bolton 3301970/2024 Ms Andreia Simoes 3301971/2024 Mr Andrew Roe 3301972/2024 Mr Andrew Pyatt 3301973/2024 Mr Andrew Kyte 3301974/2024 Ms Angela Cunningham 3301975/2024 Mr Anthony Cunningham 3301976/2024 Mr Anthony Jude 3301977/2024 Mr Anthony Clark 3301978/2024 Ms Anunchitha Shyam 3301979/2024 Mr Barry Harrower 3301980/2024 Ms Bianca Wekerle 3301981/2024 Ms Carol Hossack 3301982/2024 Mr Christopher Heddle 3301983/2024 Mr Christopher Cook 3301984/2024 Mr Ciaran Murray 3301985/2024 Mr Daniel Haydon 3301986/2024 Mr Daniel Willis 3301987/2024 Mr Daniel Ground 3301988/2024 Mr Daniel Coates 3301989/2024 Mr Daniel Phoenix 3301990/2024 Mr Darren Parsons 3301991/2024 Mr Darren Luxford 3301992/2024 Mr David Hartley 3301993/2024 Mr David Taylor 3301994/2024 Mr David Amineyo 3301995/2024 Ms Debbie Hellier 3301996/2024 Ms Diana Cordingley-Clark 3301997/2024 Mr Diego Alessandri 3301998/2024 Mr Dragos Traistaru 3301999/2024 Mr Duncan Forrester 3302000/2024 Mr Edmund Giles 3302001/2024 Mr Egidijus Dailidenas 3302002/2024 Mr Elias Selby 3302003/2024 Ms Ellen Children 3302004/2024 Mr Elliot Smith 3302005/2024 Mr Emanuel Beck 3302006/2024 Ms Emillie Griffiths Brown 3302007/2024 Ms Emma Newitt 3302008/2024 Ms Emma Selby 3302009/2024 Mr Evan Bailey 3302010/2024 Mr Fazal Caratella 3302011/2024 Ms Gabriela Melichian 3302012/2024 Ms Gail Willows 3302013/2024 Mr Gary Tonks 3302014/2024 Mr Giancarlo Duran 3302015/2024 Ms Gillian Ford 3302016/2024 Mr Glen Callegari 3302017/2024 Mr Glenn Hiscocks 3302018/2024 Mr Graham Luck 3302019/2024 Mr Gregory Harris 3302020/2024 Mr Guillaume Vieille 3302021/2024 Mr Guillermo Novoa Ares 3302022/2024 Mr Guramritpal Sandhu 3302023/2024 Ms Hannah Sowerby-Hill 3302024/2024 Mr Harrison Godfrey 3302025/2024 Mr Harry Haylor 3302026/2024 Mr Harry Chan 3302027/2024 Ms Harsharan Dehele 3302028/2024 Ms Hazel Coates 3302029/2024 Mr Ilias Kararaj 3302030/2024 Mr Ishaq Hawwash 3302031/2024 Ms Ivana Core 3302032/2024 Mr Jacob Martin 3302033/2024 Mr Jakub Oubrecht 3302034/2024 Mr James Mills 3302035/2024 Ms Jamie Van de Vijver 3302036/2024 Mr Jamie Stewart 3302037/2024 Mr Jeffrey Matcham 3302038/2024 Ms Jessica Mills 3302039/2024 Ms Joanna Luxon 3302040/2024 Ms Joanna Youden 3302041/2024 Mr Joao Dias 3302042/2024 Mr John Harrison 3302043/2024 Mr Jonathan Warwick 3302044/2024 Mr Josh Holmes 3302045/2024 Mr Joshua Crook 3302046/2024 Mr Jurjen Van der Goot 3302047/2024 Mr Kamalijt Toor 3302048/2024 Ms Katarzyna Glynn 3302049/2024 Mr Kelvin Green 3302050/2024 Mr Kishor Hirani 3302051/2024 Mr Konrad Gortat 3302052/2024 Mr Larkhan Singh 3302053/2024 Mr Lawrence Bryan 3302054/2024 Mr Lee Davison 3302055/2024 Mr Liam Meara 3302056/2024 Ms Linda Taylor 3302057/2024 Mr Manoj Anandhan 3302058/2024 Ms Maria Morrell-Neal 3302059/2024 Mr Mariano De Luca 3302060/2024 Mr Mark King 3302061/2024 Mr Mark Garnett 3302062/2024 Mr Martin Kelly 3302063/2024 Mr Mateusz Mikolajczk 3302064/2024 Mr Mateusz Zajac 3302065/2024 Mr Matthew Argy 3302066/2024 Mr Matthew Pidgeon 3302067/2024 Mr Matthew Young 3302068/2024 Mr Matthew Hurst 3302069/2024 Mr Michael Holland 3302070/2024 Mr Mindaugas Gliozeris 3302071/2024 Mr Mohammed Khan 3302072/2024 Mr Naga Hari Kiran Tirupathi 3302073/2024 Ms Natalia Generali 3302074/2024 Mr Nathan Oyousa 3302075/2024 Mr Neil Partington 3302076/2024 Mr Neil Hunt 3302077/2024 Mr Okyay Sonmez 3302078/2024 Mr Oliver Bonehill 3302079/2024 Ms Pamela John 3302080/2024 Mr Paresh Viradiya 3302081/2024 Mr Patrick Patterson 3302082/2024 Mr Paul Wood 3302083/2024 Mr Paul White 3302084/2024 Ms Paulina Martinas 3302085/2024 Ms Penelope Tomlin 3302086/2024 Mr Phillip Jones 3302087/2024 Mr Piotr Czastka 3302088/2024 Mr Rai Gill 3302089/2024 Mr Rajesh Akula 3302090/2024 Mr Ranald Harding 3302091/2024 Mr Rhydian Evans 3302092/2024 Mr Richard Howells 3302093/2024 Mr Richard May 3302094/2024 Mr Robert Gwynn 3302095/2024 Mr Robert Pywell 3302096/2024 Mr Roger Maresco 3302097/2024 Mr Ross Peplow 3302098/2024 Ms Samara Clark 3302099/2024 Mr Samuel Atkins 3302100/2024 Mr Samuel Bright 3302101/2024 Mr Sebastian Byks 3302102/2024 Mr Shashank Sisodia 3302103/2024 Mr Simon Picton 3302104/2024 Mr Stefan Kay 3302105/2024 Mr Stephen Taylor 3302106/2024 Mr Stephen Day 3302107/2024 Mr Stephen Jones 3302108/2024 Mr Steven Hall 3302109/2024 Ms Swarupa Sonam Subhadarshini 3302110/2024 Mr Szymon Witkowski 3302111/2024 Mr Thomas Sherifi 3302112/2024 Mr Thomas Cordingley-Clark 3302113/2024 Mr Vikash Toofaneeram 3302114/2024 Mr Waheedullah Safi 3302115/2024 Mr Warren Miller 3302116/2024 Mr William Carlsson 3302117/2024 Mr Yordan Karchev 3302118/2024 Mr Zhao Zhang