Collective Redundancies - When Does the Obligation to Consult Arise? - Award of Almost €3 Million in Fujitsu Case

The decision of the Finnish Supreme Court in the Fujitsu case delivered on 9 March 2010, pursuant to which Fujitsu was ordered to pay almost €3 million to dismissed employees, has relevance for Irish employers, particularly those within an international group.

A preliminary ruling was sought from the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") in this case and in its ruling the ECJ has, for the first time, clarified the point in time at which employers must commence the consultation process with their employees in a collective redundancy scenario, in particular in the context of group companies.

In the Fujitsu case the decision to close the factory in Finland had been made by the board of the parent company before any consultations with the workers had taken place.

The key points to note from the ruling in this case are as follows:

The obligation to start consultations with employee representatives arises not when an employer plans to take...