Redundancy support offered to Multiyork employees
We are offering assistance to ex-employees of Multiyork as a result of the organisation’s announcement on 23 November that it had entered into administration. 112 redundancies were confirmed yesterday at its Thetford head office as the company begins a winding-down process.
Multiyork, the furniture maker, which employed 547 people in 50 shops and manufactures upholstered furnishings in Thetford, Norfolk, is understood to have struggled amid a tough retail market in which shoppers are shying away from spending on expensive items for their homes.
This has sadly resulted in redundancies. Ex-employees should be aware of their additional rights to compensation. If you were made redundant with immediate effect, you might have a claim for something called a Protective Award, as well as redundancy entitlements.
A company is under a duty to give advance notice and consult with staff representatives for a minimum of 30 days where it proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees at one workplace within a 90 day period. Companies are legally obliged to tell employee representatives what is happening, tell them that redundancies are looking likely and consult with them about ways of avoiding redundancies, keep numbers to a minimum and/or mitigate the effects.
If this does not happen, employees may be able to make a claim in an Employment Tribunal for up to 3 months’ pay for a Protective Award – essentially a penalty for the failure to comply with its obligations. This compensation payment is payable in addition to redundancy pay, notice pay and other basic entitlements. If a company is insolvent, the Government Insolvency Service will guarantee up to 8 weeks of the value of a Protective Award claim, subject to any deductions (but they will only pay this if they have an Employment Tribunal Judgment ordering a Protective Award to be paid).
Morrish Solicitors LLP regularly pursues protective award claims on behalf of employees. We recently won protective award claims for over 250 former City Link employees, over 100 Phones 4U employees and other companies, including Austin Reed, Turners Fine Foods, Paperlinx and Low Cost Travel. The individuals in these cases were made redundant without consultation and Morrish Solicitors LLP secured an Employment Tribunal Judgment for 90 days’ gross pay for each employee.
Daniel Kindell, Associate Employment Solicitor at Morrish Solicitors, said: “When something like this happens, it is a huge shock. People have been treated appallingly and will no doubt be worried about paying their bills and how they are going to secure other work in a very competitive environment. We want people to know that there is another route to gaining compensation for what has happened. Whilst we cannot recover all of the financial loss people have suffered, a protective award claim could go some way towards it.”
Employees should note that there is a general time limit of 3 months (less one day) from the date of the act complained of to bring most types of claims in the Employment Tribunals, subject to any extension by way of use of the ACAS Early Conciliation process. We are unable to give more detailed advice about time limits at this stage but employees should have regard to them. If missed, an employee will automatically be prevented from pursuing a claim.
If you have been made redundant from Multiyork without consultation please read our ‘frequently asked questions’ document and complete our no-obligation online questionnaire for assistance with your case.
If you have any questions please email us at [email protected] or call 033 3344 9600.
