HR Magazine quotes Nick Hurley on redundancy and employee rights

Former employees of furniture retailer Made.com are seeking legal action after being made redundant during a Zoom call.

The company went into administration on 9 November. This led to 320 jobs being cut, in addition to 79 staff who had resigned and were working their notice being asked to leave immediately.

Nick Hurley, Partner and Head of the Employment Group, provides comment for HR Magazine.

He says:

“Unfortunately the legal remedies for employees in companies that become insolvent are very limited, especially where they may be left behind in the insolvent business on a pre-pack sale.

The commercial imperative for the Administrators is to sell what is left of the business for the best price for the benefit of the creditors. Often they just don’t have any time to conduct the normal employment consultation processes, which can leave a bitter taste in the mouths of the remaining employees."

Aticus plans to file a protective award claim against Made.com – compensation awarded by an employment tribunal if an employer fails in its duties.

Nick adds:

"A defence to the protective award may also be made out on the basis that there were “special circumstances” that made it impracticable to consult. However, recent cases (including the Carillion case in 2018) have shown that this defence is very hard to rely on even in the precarious circumstances of an insolvency.”

Read the full article here.