You may be aware that there are prosecutions pending in the USC and City Link cases for failure to notify the Secretary of State of proposed redundancies, as required by section 193 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA), in one case against three directors, and in the other against a director and an IP. Under section 194, failure to notify the Secretary of State is a criminal offence, and from 12 March 2015 the potential fine is unlimited in value.
This highlights the importance of submitting the Form HR 1 as soon as possible in any cases where there are potential redundancies, providing as much information as is possible in the circumstances.
However, it should be noted that notification is the employer’s responsibility and, unless acting or purporting to act pre-insolvency as a director, manager, secretary or other officer, members can only commit the offence themselves once formally appointed as officeholder. Members may wish to ensure when they or their firm are advising employers pre-insolvency that they specifically advise the employer and its officers and managers of their Section 193 obligations and the section 194 offence.