Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Act 2007
Request by Minister for opinion of Labour Court. |
7.— (1) The Minister may, either— | |
(a) within 7 working days of receiving a request from the Redundancy Panel under section 6 , or | ||
(b) subject to subsection (3), on the Minister’s own initiative, in the public interest, | ||
request the Labour Court to issue an opinion whether collective redundancies proposed by an employer constitute exceptional collective redundancies. | ||
(2) In subsection (1)(b), “ public interest ” includes— | ||
(a) public order and the interests of national security, | ||
(b) public health and safety, | ||
(c) the need to protect the labour market, and | ||
(d) the protection of statutory employment rights. | ||
(3) The Minister may make a request under subsection (1)(b) only if— | ||
(a) it appears to the Minister that the proposed collective redundancies are exceptional collective redundancies, and | ||
(b) the relevant period specified in subsection (4) has not expired. | ||
(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), the relevant period is— | ||
(a) if the period of 30 days specified in section 9(3) of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 has not expired and a reference to the Redundancy Panel has not been made under section 6 (1) — that period of 30 days, | ||
(b) if a reference to the Redundancy Panel has been made under section 6 (1) but the Panel has not made a request under section 6 (2) — the period of 7 working days specified in section 6 (2). |