| Pawson's 185 qualify for payment |
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20 November 2008, Leeds, ENGLAND – A Protective Award granted by Leeds Employment Tribunal yesterday means that 185 employees made redundant by E. Pawson & Son Ltd on 11 April 2008 now qualify for compensation from the Redundancy Fund, unbeknownst to many of them. The company laid off 185 workers from three depots in Normanton, Rotherham and Wakefield, after going into administration. The tribunal found the firm failed to consult with employee representatives at least 90 days before the redundancies, and further failed to hold elections to nominate employee representatives. One of the employees, a HGV driver and member of Unite, the UK's biggest union, took his case to the Leeds Employment Tribunal, alleging the company had given no indication they would enter into administration, and there was no consultation with employees representatives prior to the resulting redundancies. The driver and other employees had since received redundancy pay, notice pay, outstanding wages and holiday pay from the Redundancy Payments Service. Solicitor Toni Haynes of Morrish & Co, representing the driver, explained yesterday, “E. Pawson was legally obliged to consult with representatives 90 days before the dismissals. “Because they failed to do that and also failed to hold elections to nominate representatives, we went to the Employment Tribunal asking for a Protective Award, which has been granted for a Protective Period of 90 days, meaning my client and his former colleagues who were laid off in the 90 days following 11 April qualify for further compensation of 90 days pay,” said Haynes. “The company is in receivership so obviously any payment from them is unlikely, but my client and his former colleagues potentially qualify for payment from the Redundancy Fund, which is a government scheme set up to protect people from exactly this kind of situation,” said Haynes. “Because the case was brought by one employee, my client, his former colleagues basically won’t know that they also are covered by this Protective Award, and that they also are entitled to claim compensation,” said Haynes. Richard Bedford, Unite regional Industrial Organiser, said today, “Thankfully the Redundancy Fund acts as a safety net for people whose layoffs have not been handled properly. But the fund comes from taxpayer money and has its limits. E Pawson & Sons should have done the decent thing and consulted with the representatives, paid their employees 100% of this money, and not left it to the taxpayer to clean up after them.” “The other 184 employees of E. Pawson, who were laid off on 11 April or in the 90 days following, whichever branch they were at, are all protected by this Award and they should contact their Union, their solicitor or the Redundancy Fund as soon as possible,” said Bedford. “In these tough economic times, a lot of people up and down the country are going to find themselves in similar situations as our member who brought this case. They need to know their rights,” said Bedford. For further information, please contact Vanessa Charters, Head of Communications, Morrish & Co Solicitors, DD 0113 297 9844, Mob 0759-5564-764 or Richard Bedford, Regional Industrial Organiser, Unite the Union, Tel 0113-236-4830. |