Just before Christmas 2012, 6,661 Comet staff were sacked when the administrator Deloitte announced the closure of the company, including all 195 stores, offices and distribution centres. Shopworkers union Usdaw took out a case at the Leeds Employment Tribunal on behalf of 83 of their members, claiming that staff were not properly consulted about their redundancy, as required by law, which was inevitably caused by the administrator’s snap decision to close Comet down. The Leeds Employment Tribunal has now granted a protective award to the Claimants.
John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, said: “Yet again the taxpayer will have to pick up the bill for what is 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. Not only were the staff treated very badly in the first place, they have suffered a long wait for justice and have watched the Administrators fight tooth and nail to try to stop them getting a small amount of compensation for the disgraceful way they have been treated. The poor behaviour of the Administrators is reflected in the tribunal’s decision to make a maximum award to the former staff.”
Usdaw called for a review of the law on how Administrators deal with redundant staff. Hannett explained, “This area of law requires review because it is riddled with injustices for both workers and taxpayers and is stacked in favour of the financial and business sector. The Government needs to end the perverse financial incentive for employers and Administrators not to comply with legal obligations on collective redundancy consultation.”
There are former Comet employees from 16 stores who will have to wait for the European Court to decide on the Woolworth’s and Ethel Austin case. This is because they are in workplaces of fewer than twenty employees and the Government is fighting to have them exempted from protective awards.
The success of the Tribunal claim shows one of the advantages of shop workers belonging to a trade union, particularly in times such as these when we don’t know which major retailer will be the next to close.
•For more information on Usdaw, go to www.usdaw.org.uk.