Employees rights if company shut but not insolvent

macka0

Advice really appreciated, work for a small building firm for the last 12 yrs, have been told today that there will be no more work after current job finishes (around 2 weeks) and there is no funds to pay notice or redundancys and he is going to shut the companys down and not make it insolvent,thanks in advance for any advice

redmalc

MackaO your employer is making it very difficult for you by not commencing a formal Insolvency procedure,it may be someone else will wind him up,eg HMRC or a supplier,what he has most probably forgotten is the employee claims are classed as creditors.
I am presuming you are employed within a Limited Company,if so seek advice ASAP from your union or job centre,i am not sure but i think you will need some type of letter from the company at the time the work ceases,otherwise you are going to have issues claiming any type of employment benefits

zzzLazyDaisy

I suggest that you lodge an immediate claim with the employment tribunal for all monies owed to you (outstanding wages, holiday pay, notice pay, redundancy pay). You probably won't get the money, but if someone else winds the company up -HMRC or another another creditor, you will then be able to make a claim to the government insolvency service. You could of course do that without going through the tribunal route, but if the company goes bump some months down the line, it may be more difficult to prove what is owing to you.

From what you say, this also sounds like an unfair dismissal, but since the company has ceased trading, you would have lost your job anyway, and there is not really anything to be gained by making an unfair dismissal claim.

The reason I say lodge the claim immediately is because fees will be introduced on 29th of July and that is just an extra cost you could do without.

macka0

thanks for the replies