Firm told to compensate former workers

Posted 31/05/2009

A firm in the West Midlands has been ordered to pay more than £80,000 in compensation for failing to follow procedure when laying off staff.

Fourteen former employees put in compensation claims after they were told they would be losing their jobs at Kidderminster-based Enterprise Weaving.

The workers told the court they had not been given any warning or consultation from the company, which informed them that it was facing insolvency, reports the Kidderminster Shuttle.

However, tribunal chairman Pam Hughes disclosed that the company is still running, albeit with significant financial problems.

As a result, the successful claimants are unsure as to whether they will receive the sum they have been awarded.

Mrs Hughes commented: “You could make a claim, eventually, for redundancy money from the government’s Redundancy Office, depending on what happens to the firm, but you would only get your basic entitlements.”

The layoffs come amid a period of rising joblessness in the UK.

This week, a Financial Services Authority spokesperson told Personnel Today that unemployment levels could potentially reach 3.7 million inside two years.