The legal position
Collective consultation is generally required where an employer proposes twenty or more redundancies at one establishment within ninety days. Consultation must begin in good time and at least thirty days before the first dismissal for twenty to ninety-nine proposals, or forty-five days for one hundred or more. Individual consultation remains important. From 6 April 2026, the maximum protective award for failure to consult increased to 180 days’ pay per affected employee. Separate notification duties also need checking.
Source and attribution [1]Using it in practice
Map proposed changes across projects and locations before treating each as an isolated exercise. Identify representatives, information needs and a realistic consultation timetable. Keep a record of alternatives raised and how they affected the proposal. Build in time to correct inaccurate selection information. Escalate uncertainty about establishment, counting or special circumstances to specialist advice early, not on the dismissal date.
An example, not a reported case
Worked example · illustrative
Two departments plan reductions in the same quarter. Each manager sees a small local project, but HR reviews the combined proposals and relevant establishment. The organisation revises its timetable before announcing final outcomes. Consultation explores redeployment and reduced duplication, and the decision record explains which alternatives were accepted or rejected. A polished announcement would not replace that work.
What to watch for
Thresholds and counting can be technically complex and reforms may alter parts of the framework. The minimum period is not a guarantee that consultation was meaningful or complete.
Take it into your next conversation
Three useful questions.
- Have related proposals been considered together?
- Can consultation still change the proposal?
- Are individual and collective duties both covered?
Related terms
Go to the evidence
Sources & attribution
[1] Acas. When to begin collective consultation for redundancy. ↗
Official guidance supports the legal overview. Application notes and examples are original editorial material, not individual legal advice. Check the linked source for changes and the full qualifications.
Published 2026-09-20 · Reviewed 2026-09-20. Editorial approach