AROUND 75 staff of a defunct Glasgow-based landscaping and civil engineering firm are to share a £250,000 compensation award after they were made redundant last year with less than a day’s notice.
The award comes after Land Engineering (Scotland) Ltd collapsed in June with the loss of 135 jobs with EY called in as administrators.
Thompson Solicitors who are acting for the staff claimed that the firm failed to consult the workforce about their redundancies and so were in breach of UK employment law.
Employees of Land Engineering, which had offices in Glasgow, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, the Lothians and Fife, said they were told they would be given statutory redundancy terms - despite some of the 135 affected having worked there for decades.
Thompsons Solicitors, which acted for dozens of Land Engineering’s former staff said they had helped them win the Protective Award through the Glasgow Employment Tribunal.
Lawyers at Thompsons said they were happy with the outcome and raised the raised concerns over company directors not giving staff proper notice of redundancies.
David Martyn, a partner in the firm’s employment law department, commented: “This is a fantastic result for former Land Engineering staff. These were people who would have been left with minimal statutory payments had we not undertaken this legal action.
"All too often company directors think they can flout the law and cast workers aside with little or no notice of redundancy.
“The law on this matter is quite clear but yet many companies continue to behave in this manner."
Staff reportedly turned up at their office at The Skypark in Finnieston, Glasgow, to find a note on the door telling them to go to the firm’s HQ in Fenwick to sort out formalities.
EY later said 249 jobs were saved after it sold part of the company's business and assets to landscape firm Idverde for an undisclosed sum.
However, it added that it had not been possible to find a buyer for the remainder of the business.
EY said it would not comment on the award.
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