The motor industry is a dynamic business environment, this can result in a need to make changes the workforce, either by redistributing them across other roles or ultimately reducing them. It is therefore likley that members will have been involved in a redundancy exercise at some point. All redundancies require an employer to consult with employees before making any decision. However, how complex this consultation process is will depend on the number of employees affected by the changes. Currently, under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) an employer is only required to follow collective redundancy process where they propose 20 or more redundancies within a 90-day period at one establishment. Once triggered an employer is required to consult with the recognised trade union (if no recognised trade union then employer consults with elected employee representatives) before making any redundancies as well as to follow a consultation process of between 30 days and 45 days minimum as well as a requirement to provide details of the redundancy to the government, which from December 2025 has required a mandatory online reporting process. The Government has recently raised a concern that large numbers of employees are not being consulted because the redundancies are spread across multiple sites below the current threshold. The current proposals therefore concern when an employer is required to follow a collective redundancy process. As a result the Employment Rights Act 2025 seeks to address this by introducing a new requirement for employers to undertake collective redundancy consultation whenever they make a threshold number of redundancies across their entire organisation. The government is seeking views via consultation which went live on 25 February 2026, on the level and methods by which the new organisation-wide threshold for triggering collective redundancy obligations might be set. The government is considering 2 options to set the new organisation-wide threshold: using a single fixed number in the range of 250 to 1,000 redundancies across the business; and tiering this new obligation based on the size of the employer (i.e. total number of employees). Further details on the consultation (which closes 21 May 2026), as well as how to respond and make their position know can be found here1 In Conclusion Currently this is just an information gathering exercise where the government is consulting on a proposal to change thresholds that trigger collective redundancy obligations. Whilst this needs to be noted, it is not yet a cause for concern. It is likely that it will be some time before any changes will apply. Any changes will require parliamentary approval and even after that is granted, we are likely to get a detailed guidance on any changes well in advance of their application. Whatever changes are made, if your organisation runs only one site then this will not affect you. However, if you have multiple sites and employ over 20 people then this is something you need to be aware of and monitor for possible changes to the legislation in the future. As always, this advice is general in nature and will need to be tailored to any one situation. As an RMI member you have access to the RMI Legal advice line, as well as several industry experts for your assistance. Should you find yourself in the situation above, contact us at any stage for advice and assistance as appropriate. Motor Industry Legal Services Motor Industry Legal Services provides fully comprehensive legal advice and representation to UK motor retailers for one annual fee. It is the only regulated law firm in the UK which specialises in motor law and motor trade law. MILS currently advises over 1,000 individual businesses within the sector as well as the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) and its members