Woolworths compensation

wannabehermit

I'm confused by the way all the articles are worded, is there anyone who is a bit more clued up on this kind of thing?

The articles all say "The shopworkers union Usdaw has won compensation worth up to massive £67.8 million for over 24,000 former employees of Woolworths made redundant when the firm collapsed at the end of 2008."

but also say "In a judgement released today, the Employment Tribunal in London found that the administrators had failed in their legal obligations to consult with Usdaw and awarded its members compensation of 60 days pay, capped at £330 a week, the maximum payable in these circumstances."

Full Usdaw statement here http://www.usdaw.org.uk/newsevents/news/2012/jan/usdawwins%C2%A367millioncompens.aspx and "information for members" from Usdaw here http://www.usdaw.org.uk/newsevents/news/2012/jan/woolworthsinformationformem.aspx

What I'm confused about is on the one hand it's saying that all staff in a store with over 20 employees (mine had 22) will receive compensation, while on the other hand it seems to be saying that eligible Usdaw members only will be receiving it.

So am I likely to receive any of this even though I was not a union member when I worked there?

Jarndyce

wannabehermit wrote: »

I'm confused by the way all the articles are worded, is there anyone who is a bit more clued up on this kind of thing?

The articles all say "The shopworkers union Usdaw has won compensation worth up to massive £67.8 million for over 24,000 former employees of Woolworths made redundant when the firm collapsed at the end of 2008."

but also say "In a judgement released today, the Employment Tribunal in London found that the administrators had failed in their legal obligations to consult with Usdaw and awarded its members compensation of 60 days pay, capped at £330 a week, the maximum payable in these circumstances."

Full Usdaw statement here http://www.usdaw.org.uk/newsevents/news/2012/jan/usdawwins%C2%A367millioncompens.aspx and "information for members" from Usdaw here http://www.usdaw.org.uk/newsevents/news/2012/jan/woolworthsinformationformem.aspx

What I'm confused about is on the one hand it's saying that all staff in a store with over 20 employees (mine had 22) will receive compensation, while on the other hand it seems to be saying that eligible Usdaw members only will be receiving it.

So am I likely to receive any of this even though I was not a union member when I worked there?

No. This is a protective award payable to the union as compensation for the employer's failure to consult the union as required to do by law. The union then distributes the money among its members in the relevant workplaces.

wannabehermit

Thanks, I had a feeling it was going to be Union members only. Wish papers would word things correctly and say eligible employees rather than all employees. ALthough wanting the media to be transparent is a pretty silly thing to wish for.

lincroft1710

wannabehermit wrote: »

Thanks, I had a feeling it was going to be Union members only. Wish papers would word things correctly and say eligible employees rather than all employees. ALthough wanting the media to be transparent is a pretty silly thing to wish for.

The actual facts of a story do not make such good reading as the story the media think you should read.

Acc72

Jarndyce wrote: »

No. This is a protective award payable to the union as compensation for the employer's failure to consult the union as required to do by law. The union then distributes the money among its members in the relevant workplaces.

Does than mean that all union members receive payments of 12 x £330 irrespective of their length of service and level of pay ?

I also presume that non-union members would receive statutory redundancy pay direct from the government ?

wannabehermit

Acc72 wrote: »

Does than mean that all union members receive payments of 12 x £330 irrespective of their length of service and level of pay ?

I also presume that non-union members would receive statutory redundancy pay direct from the government ?

According to USDAW site it is...

"

• 60 days' gross pay capped at a maximum weekly pay of up to £400 according to the RPO;
• less anything that they have already received by way of unpaid wages from the RPO;
• less State benefits for Income Support and Jobseekers Allowance in the Protective Award period – which is 60 days after the dismissal date."

So your area managers will get the equivalent of £400 a week, but your normal shop staff will obviously get a lot less as our wages were NMW which iirc was either £5.38 or £5.83 at the time (haven't checked my wage slips). So for me a days wages would be a bit over £20 so I'd get a lot less than £400. Then I would lose the income support that I claimed straight away as well.

wannabehermit

http://www.bis.gov.uk/insolvency/Redundancy/Woolworths-tribunal-award

This, particularly the following 2 parts suggests that it is all staff that will be entitled:

"What do I have to do?
If, after the company entered into administration in November 2008, you submitted a form RP1 claiming redundancy and/or arrears of wages and/or holiday pay and/or pay in lieu of notice, you will soon receive a letter giving details of the process and then towards the end of February a separate claim form, called PA-plus, to claim your protective award. You should complete the form and return it with as much of the requested information as you can provide."

"It is likely that as many as 27,000 former employees of the company will claim, making this the largest single case on which claims for a protected award have been handled by the Redundancy Payments Service. Additional resources have been obtained to enable the claims to be considered as quickly as possible."

Although it wouldn't be a lot that I would get if I am entitled. My IS was about the same as my wages so the difference owed to me will be nominal. I'm not holding out for anything, but a few quid would be nice!

wannabehermit

:j:j:j

Phoned Insolvency Service today, they have a dedicated Woolworths line and yes this is for all eligible staff, not just USDAW members. They're sending me out some forms as I've got married since working at Woolies but I will be expecting a very welcome payment from them in the near future. Yippee!

jilly24

My daughter worked for them for about 18 months before being made redundant.
We're confused as to whether the payment is a redundancy payment or it is a compensation for not consulting.
She got the letter about compensation but hadn't previously submitted a RP1 form (as she wouldn't be entitled to redundancy, having worled for less than 2 years).
Anyone know whether she is entitlled to anything?

wannabehermit

She should have filled out the RP1 form anyway. Without that she would't have got any holiday pay that she was owed, and she would only need to have been there a year to have received a redundancy payment. Her manager/s should have been aware of this. I was the cash office manager and I made sure that all staff at mine had them filled out, even to the point of taking them into my office 2 at a time to make sure they were done correctly. This included the staff who had been taken on just before going into admin, so had only been with the company a matter of weeks. I don't know if there is anything that can be done about that now.

Wrt to the letter that she received recently that is for compensation for not being consulted. If she had filled out the RP1 form there was a box that needed ticking stating that the employee had received no notice of redundancy. There was a telephone number and email address on the letter, it would be a good idea for her to contact them to find out how not filling out an RP1 form will affect her.

Edit: Taken from the link above:

"Further information (including RP1 forms)

If you require further information, including a form RP1 to complete, you should contact The Insolvency Service’s Insolvency Enquiry Line on 0845 602 9848 (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the usual work days) or by e-mail to wpa@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk."

mazza111

Feel sorry for the people who worked in our local branch, was just a small store with 18 staff

Believe they are still consulting on this matter, but hope they manage to get something.