Staff net payout after council settles dispute over agency worker info

A London borough has settled an employment dispute over its failure to provide a union with information on agency workers.

The Unison union, which had requested the information as part of a wider consultation over redundancies and staff transfers, said more than 150 Barnet Council workers stood to receive a share of “hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

In February 2013 the Employment Tribunal in Watford ruled that Barnet had:

• Barnet failed to comply with s. 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in respect of redundancies that took effect on 31 March 2012 by failing to provide information on agency workers;


• The council failed to comply with regulation 13 of TUPE 2006 in respect of transfers on 1 April and 1 May 2012 by failing to provide information on agency workers.

The tribunal made protective awards of 60 days and compensation of 40 and 50 days respectively in respect of these breaches.

At the Employment Appeal Tribunal last year Barnet successfully challenged the level of compensation payable and how it was to be calculated. The case returned to the ET for reconsideration.

Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis said: "The council breached the law and undermined the union's ability to carry out its role, and this decision should serve as a warning to other councils that they must provide information on agency staff to trade unions or suffer the consequences.

"With councils across the country outsourcing and slashing services on a massive scale, this is a landmark decision that will help to protect the rights of workers. It has important ramifications for other trade unions and will help them to negotiate more effectively and avoid redundancies."

A spokesman for Barnet said: “In the original Employment Tribunal, Barnet Council accepted there were shortcomings in the data given to the trade unions in respect of agency staff. We have always expressed regret that this resulted in needless litigation.

“The council successfully appealed against the level of the original award which we felt did not recognise the extensive consultation undertaken and the additional effort we have gone to in order to protect employment. The Employment Appeal Tribunal found in our favour on this matter and referred the decision back to the original Tribunal.”

He added: “To avoid further, unnecessary legal costs, the council approached Unison to seek to find a settlement rather than incur additional legal costs. The settlement is considerably below the original costs.”