In a judgment of 11 November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter, the "CJEU") interpreted Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to collective redundancies (hereinafter, the "Directive").

The Directive aims to afford greater protection to workers in the event of a collective redundancy. However, it only applies when certain conditions are met, one of which concerns the number of dismissals that take place over a reference period of 30 or 90 days. 

The judgment establishes how this reference period should be determined.