''Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley''
UKSC 47is a
021
UKSC 47is a UK labour law case, concerning the right to suffer no Detriment (law)">detriment for joining, or inducements to not join, a trade union.
Facts
Dunkley and others claimed their right to not be induced to leave a collective agreement was violated by their employer. Kostal UK Ltd wrote to employees, re-stating a pay offer the union had rejected and if it was not accepted by 18 December, no Christmas bonus would be paid (as was in the offer). In January 2016, it wrote to the employees saying non-acceptance could lead to dismissal. Employees claimed this was an unlawful inducement under the
Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is a UK Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Nort ...
(TULCRA 1992), section 145B with a "prohibited result" that the workers' terms of employment "will not (or will no longer) be determined by collective agreement".
TULRCA 1992
The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (c. 52) is a UK act of Parliament which regulates United Kingdom labour law. The act applies in full in England and Wales and in Scotland, and partially in Northern Ireland.
The law ...
br>s 145B
/ref>
The Tribunal found the employers' conduct was unlawful. The Court of Appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
reversed this, Singh LJ finding in employers’ favour. The employees appealed.
Judgment
The Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
held that an offer by employers to workers violated TULRCA 1992, section 145B if workers' terms would not be set by collective agreement, or there was a real possibility. This should be assumed where there was an agreed collective bargaining procedure that was not complied with.
Lord Leggatt said the following:
Lord Burrows and Lady Arden
Mary Howarth Arden, Baroness Mance, , PC (born 23 January 1947), known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall, is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before that, she was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England an ...
said the following.
Lady Arden and Lord Burrows, 26 29would have gone further: an employer breached s 145B where (i) an offer, if accepted, would constitute contracting out of collective bargaining on that occasion so that the offer satisfied the "prohibited result" requirement; and (ii) the employer's main purpose was to achieve that result rather than having a genuine business purpose. On that interpretation, it did not necessarily follow that the employer escaped liability just because the collective bargaining process had been exhausted.
See also
*UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
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United Kingdom labour case law