Type: Judgment

Authority: European Authorities: Euopean Communities' Court of Justice

Date: 09/10/2009

Subject: The Court affirmed that Article 2(1) of Directive 98/59 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies must be interpreted to mean that the adoption, within a group of undertakings, of strategic decisions or of changes in activities which compel the employer to contemplate or to plan for collective redundancies gives rise to an obligation on that employer to consult with workers’ representatives. The obligation to hold consultations with the workers’ representatives falls on the subsidiary which has the status of employer only once that subsidiary, within which collective redundancies may be made, has been identified. Moreover the consultation procedure must be concluded by the subsidiary affected by the collective redundancies before that subsidiary, on the direct instructions of its parent company or otherwise, terminates the contracts of employees who are to be affected by those redundancies.

Parties: Akavan Erityisalojen Keskusliitto AEK ry e altri c/ Fujitsu Siemens Computers Oy

Classification: Solidarity - Art. 27 Worker’s rights: information - Worker’s rights: consultation

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