LIST OF CASES / Royal Mail Group Ltd v Communication Workers Union EAT 2009

EAT on 2nd December 2009, reported at [2009] ICR 357 (and at [2009] IRLR 108)

NOTES

Royal Mail Group Ltd v Communication Workers Union, EAT on 2nd December 2008, reported at [2009] ICR 357 (and also at [2009] IRLR 108)

The full text of this judgment is available free of charge on the BAILII website.

Representation:-

Mr Adrian Lynch QC and Ms Judy Stone instructed by Messrs CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, Solicitors, Mitre House, 160 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4DD for the Royal Mail (the Appellant)

Mr Mohinderpal Seth and Ms Sarah Watson instructed by Messrs Simpson Millar LLP, Solicitors, 165 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1NE for the respondent Trade Union.

Authority for the proposition that:-

the "measures" about which an employer has a duty under the TUPE regulations to inform, and consult with, staff representatives in connection with a transfer of the employing business are measures which the employer actually proposes to take and their effect, not the measures it ought to be taking.

For relevant general notes see Transfer of business or undertaking/consultation

editor's note:
The CWU appealed against this EAT decision but lost on 14th October 2009. The Court of Appeal confirmed that the obligation to consult (TUPE regulations 2006 (SI 2006/246) reg 13) is subjective and that while the employer must state what he honestly believes he does not have to warrant that his belief is correct ( Royal Mail Group Ltd v Communication Workers Union CA 2009 IRLR 1046 and [2010] ICR 83).

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prepared Dec2008