More than 70 former J Rotherham Masonry employees who lost their jobs when the company went into administration last week are to take legal action.
The East Yorkshire bespoke kitchen worktop specialist called in administrator KPMG to help find a buyer as it collapsed due to cash flow woes, with rising costs and challenging market conditions combining.
More than 200 employees were made redundant across the company’s head office at Holme-On-Spalding Moor and its manufacturing facility at Market Weighton; with a limited number of back office and productions team staff retained to support the process and complete existing orders.
Since then national law firm Simpson Millar has received more than 70 calls from affected employees, and has begun investigations to enable appropriate legal action to be brought in order to secure a protective award on their behalf. It follows from the company’s failure to properly consult staff regarding the mass redundancies.
One employee – who does not want to be named – said he was on his way to work for a night shift when he received a text from a supervisor to say he had been laid off.
The father of an 18-month-old said that J Rotherham had been a great company to work for before its demise, and that while he wished he had been given more notice he has been ‘deeply saddened’ by the news which has left him, and his colleagues, searching for a new job.
Stephen Pinder, a specialist employment law Partner at Simpson Millar, said: “This is, no doubt, an incredibly difficult period for those affected and many will be attempting to understand the news and plan their next steps.
“To date, we have been contacted by 74 former employees who are looking to bring in claims for a Protective Award which would be paid out to those affected by redundancies where they have not been properly consulted.”
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A protective award is a payment awarded by an employment tribunal in cases where an employer fails to follow the correct procedure when making 20 or more redundancies and, where an employment tribunal finds in the favour of the employees, they will be able to access the funds via the Insolvency Service.
A claim is ongoing at Clugston Group, where 150 were immediately laid off when the insolvency and administration specialist was appointed in November.
Simpson Millar’s employment law team is currently instructed by former employees affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook. Last year, the firm announced that it had secured payments on behalf of 103 ex-Mutiyork staff amounting to £300,000.
The team are also pursing claims in relations to Mothercare.