Redeployment

An employer must consult collectively even if it plans to redeploy some of the affected employees so that fewer than 20 are likely to end up being dismissed. This is because the test looks at proposals to dismiss at the start of the consultation process. The fact that fewer than 20 employees eventually end up being dismissed is irrelevant (Hardy v Tourism South East UKEAT/0931/04 [2005] IRLR 242). This is an unsurprising conclusion since one of the key purposes of collective consultation is for unions and employers to work together from the start of the consultation period to find ways of avoiding compulsory redundancies.