It was devastating for our high streets and the staff that Debenhams closed all their stores. Each one of those job losses is a personal tragedy for the individual worker and store closures scar our high streets and communities. With online fashion retailer Boohoo buying the Debenhams brand and closing all stores, they ended nearly 250 years of retailing history and put a big hole in many town and city centres.
Chris Elmore MP (Labour, Ogmore) asked: “Members of Usdaw who submitted claims for a protective award in 2020 after being made redundant without consultation are still waiting for the employment tribunal to hear their claim. They’re owed thousands of pounds in respect of failure to consult before redundancy and it can’t be just that three years on they’re still no closer to receiving compensation. I ask the Minister to look into this case to ensure that this collective claim can be dealt with by the tribunal service and dealt with as soon as possible because it really isn’t acceptable three years on?”
Justice Minister Mike Freer responded: “Tribunals are operationally independent, but I’m more than happy to investigate the case to see what the particular issues are that are causing the delay.”
Paddy Lillis - Usdaw General Secretary says: “Yet again the taxpayer will have to pick up the bill for money owed to sacked staff because administrators deliberately flouted the law. It's absolutely disgraceful that companies can get away with this sort of tactic in the 21st century. The Government should immediately intervene in this case as well as change the law to stop this ever happening again.
“Former staff at Debenhams have now had to wait over three years for justice and from the Minister’s answer today there is no sign this is going to happen soon. Over the Summer of 2020 redundancies were made by conference call, with no meaningful consultation or proper notice period, as required by law. Not only were the staff treated very badly in the first place, they are now enduring a long wait for the compensation they deserve.
“This area of law requires review because it is riddled with injustices for both workers and taxpayers as liability to pay the protective awards when companies are in administration falls to the Government’s insolvency fund. The Government needs to end the perverse financial incentive for employers and administrators not to comply with legal obligations on collective redundancy consultation.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion