UNISON victories enforcing AWR disclosure obligations

This year, public services union UNISON won an important victory against Barnet council to enforce the new obligation to provide information under the AWR 10, securing protective awards. The council provided some information, but failed to provide information as to the parts of the business where agency workers were employed and the type of work they were carrying out. Although the case was a first instance hearing (and is therefore not binding), it is nevertheless significant as it is probably the first recorded case to enforce this duty. It highlights the factors a tribunal is likely to take into account when making a protective award:

• That the missing information was important and valuable to the union, whose main task in the consultation is to try to save jobs;

• That the data had been supplied in the past and was readily accessible to the council’s HR department;

• That the union’s many requests had been ignored, even after the union drew the council’s attention to the statutory obligation; and

• The impact of the failure on the workers made redundant or TUPE transferred.

UNISON v (1) London Borough of Barnet and (2) NSL Limited Case No. 3302128/2012 (unreported)

UNISON followed this win with a further successful claim on behalf of employees of Lambeth Council. In March 2013, an employment tribunal awarded 45 days’ pay in compensation to 36 call centre workers made redundant as a result of the outsourcing of work to Capita in late 2011. Capita had failed to provide information requested by the union about its use of agency workers, in breach of the regulations.