Employment Rights Act 1996 s.148 – Eligibility by reason of lay-off or short-time

(1)Subject to the following provisions of this Part, for the purposes of this Part an employee is eligible for a redundancy payment by reason of being laid off or kept on short-time if—

(a) he gives notice in writing to his employer indicating (in whatever terms) his intention to claim a redundancy payment in respect of lay-off or short-time (referred to in this Part as “notice of intention to claim”), and

(b)before the service of the notice he has been laid off or kept on short-time in circumstances in which subsection (2) applies.

(2)This subsection applies if the employee has been laid off or kept on short-time—

(a)for four or more consecutive weeks of which the last before the service of the notice ended on, or not more than four weeks before, the date of service of the notice, or

(b)for a series of six or more weeks (of which not more than three were consecutive) within a period of thirteen weeks, where the last week of the series before the service of the notice ended on, or not more than four weeks before, the date of service of the notice.

Definitions used in section 148 4

employee: (1) In this Act “employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment.
Defined in s.230(1) · see it in the full Act
redundancy payment: “redundancy payment” has the meaning given by Part XI,
Defined in s.235(1) · see it in the full Act
employer: (4) In this Act “employer”, in relation to an employee or a worker, means the person by whom the employee or worker is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed.
Defined in s.230(4) · see it in the full Act; (6) This section has effect subject to sections 43K , 47B(3) and 49B(10) ; and for the purposes of Part XIII so far as relating to Part IVA or section 47B, “worker”, “worker’s contract” and, in relation to a worker, “employer”, “employment” and “employed” have the extended meaning given by section 43K.
Defined in s.230(6) · see it in the full Act
week: “week”—

(a)
in Chapter I of this Part means a week ending with Saturday, and

(b)
otherwise, except in sections 27C, 75F, 75H, 80A, 80B , 80EA , 80EF , 80J and 86 and paragraph 11 of Schedule A1 , means, in relation to an employee whose remuneration is calculated weekly by a week ending with a day other than Saturday, a week ending with that other day and, in relation to any other employee, a week ending with Saturday.

Defined in s.235(1) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 148 4

Bon Groundwork Ltd v Foster

[2012] EWCA Civ 252 · 13 March 2012

The earlier tribunal rejected the lay-off redundancy route because the claimant had not given the notice required by section 148. That reasoning formed part of the background to the Court of Appeal’s conclusion that the later dismissal claims were not barred by the earlier judgment. (see paras [15]-[16]) The earlier tribunal rejected the lay-off redundancy claim because no notice under section 148(1) had been given. The Court of Appeal did not revisit the statutory requirement. (see paras [15]-[16])

Dorbcrest Homes Ltd v Fishwick

[2010] UKEAT 0507_09_0607 · 6 July 2010

Applies the statutory route by which an employee laid off for four weeks may give notice of an intention to claim a redundancy payment. The right does not depend on dismissal. (see para [1])

2 more judgments, and what each says about section 148, are in the case-law panel in the full Act.