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Woolworths ruling rolls back time

The ECJ decision in favour of the employer in the long-running Woolworths case raise questions about the appropriateness of current insolvency rules, which are currently up for overhaul, says Christopher Davies, associate and employment law expert at Gateley LLP

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) published its decision in the case of USDAW and another v WW Realisation 1 Ltd in liquidation and Ethel Austin Ltd or ‘the Woolworths case’ as it has commonly become known on 30 April.

As expected the full Court has followed the opinion that the Advocate General gave on 5 February 2015. The requirement to carry out collective consultation is concerned with protecting communities at a local level.

The background to the case was the collapse of the Woolworths and Ethel Austin retail chains. Claims were made for compensation in respect of the failure to carry out collective consultation before the employees were made redundant.

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