Each consultation needs a fresh section 188 notice

As a general rule, there should be a fresh notice, launching fresh consultation, every time the employer proposes to make 20 or more redundancies within a 90-day window. Occasionally, the facts will justify an employer relying on a notice already issued to the union, where, for example, the original need for redundancies lapsed because of the arrival of an unexpected order but then resurfaced at a later date. This should only be the case where there is strong evidence of ongoing dialogue between the parties over redundancies. There will be a breach of the consultation obligation if the second set of redundancies relates to different workers or a new set of circumstances and if the employer cannot point to ongoing dialogue (Vauxhall Motors Limited v T&GWU [2006] IRLR 674).