Around 60 electrical engineers laid off earlier this year have won compensation because their employer failed to consult them about redundancy.
J&G Engineering went bust at Christmas with debts totalling £2.3m, but a Belfast industrial tribunal found it still had assets worth almost £750,000 to pay its preferential creditors, including staff.
The tribunal ordered the workers be paid for a full 90-day period of consultation, which should be carried out when employers dismiss 20 or more workers, having found that it took "no steps at all to provide any consultation" and there was "no evidence of any special circumstances in existence to mitigate the failure".
Unite union prepared the case for the workers. After the tribunal delivered its ruling, Unite representative Jackie Pollock said: "This goes to show what unions can do on behalf of their members when they pursue these types of cases.
"The tribunal agreed that J&G Engineering had failed to consult with its workers.
"The Department of Employment & Learning (DEL) will now pay up to eight weeks pay to the former workers at J&G."
Links:
- Sacked J&G Engineering workers win back pay award (BBC News)
- Redundancy rights (Findlaw.co.uk)
- Redundancy rights news (The Solicitor)
- Employment law Q&A (Community)
- Find an employment solicitor (Contact Law)
