Opinion C-44/08 (22 April 2009): The ECJ has handed down a judgment regarding the meaning of the phrase "contemplating collective redundancies" in Article 2(1) of the EC Collective Redundancies Directive, and how the collective consultation requirements are affected where the decision-maker is the employer's parent company.
The General Advocates Opinion asserted that the Directive's consultation provisions are not necessarily triggered where an employer takes or plans to take measures as a result of which collective redundancies are to be expected. Instead, the duty to consult will arise where the employer intends to make collective redundancies, or at least foresees the possibility of doing so.
Furthermore, where a parent company contemplates redundancies, the employer's duty to consult its employees shall only arise once the parent company identifies the subsidiary to be affected. The subsidiary employer however, must conclude the consultation procedure before the parent company makes the final decision to dismiss.
