Redundant or Unfair Dismissal?

stmarvin

Hello Everyone,

Unfortunately today, myself and most of our staff at my company has been given the following dismissal letter. We knew the company was doing bad for a while now and we have not been paid for 2 months. The only thing we were hanging on to was hope that at some point we'd be bought over and salaries paid or company becomes insolvent and we'd be able to claim any unpaid salaries, redundancy etc. Given that I have been in the company for 12 years, this would have been a significant amount to walk away from.

Then, today, we were sent this letter. I am confused as to whether this indicates that the company is in fact going in to insolvency and we are made 'redundant' or being unfairly dismissed. I dread to think the latter as I have read that the chances of taking them in to an employment tribunal are slim whilst in administration. It is the tribunal unfortunately, in cases of unfair dismissal, can decide if we are eligible for redundancy or not.

I wondered if anyone else has been in a similar situation and/or would like to shed some light in to the situation. It's much appreciated.

The letter is as follows :

Dear xxxxx,

It is with regret that I write to you with some unfortunate news.

As you may be aware, last week the company secured a deal with xxx to purchase xxx. This meant your wages would be paid for September, October and to date and the future of xxx made temporarily secure.

On Monday 7 November, I received a very unsatisfactory email from xxx stating they were no longer going through with the deal. We were not given an explanation as to why.

xxxx, of course, will be following this up with xxx as this news came as a complete shock. I am also extremely unhappy with the way that they have conducted themselves over the past few months, which many of you will be aware of and I will also be raising this with them.

This means the company must go into administration. As a result xxxx will be unable to pay wages due to staff and for this I apologise.

As a result, this letter therefore serves to notify you of your dismissal. Whilst I am aware that legally xxx is required to serve you notice, unfortunately the company is not in a position to pay this nor is it in a position to pay redundancy pay.

I strongly urge you all to seek advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

sangie595

Answered on the identical thread elsewhere.