More than 80 of the former Ilke Homes employees who lost their jobs when the business collapsed last week are taking legal action over the way the redundancy process was handled.
Company administrators said the “significant majority” of the company’s 1,100 employees would be made redundant with immediate effect, while a small number had been retained to help with the liquidation process.
Employment law experts at Atticus Law said the company was in the early stages of investigating former staff’s concerns about how the redundancy process was handled.
Atticus Law has received instructions from more than 80 people to determine whether former employees are eligible to make a protective award claim against the company. The law firm said that if its clients were successful in their claims, they could receive up to eight weeks’ pay as compensation, capped at £571 per week.
The staff involved say they were sent home about two weeks ago with pay, but learned the company was in trouble and was looking for a new investor. Last week they were summoned to a meeting during which they were told they were being let go.
Atticus Law representative Edward Judge said: “Unfortunately, the current economic climate and the rising costs of running a business on a daily basis mean that incumbents are constantly dominated by companies entering administration.
“The consequences of this are that many people find themselves out of work at little more than a moment’s notice and are inevitably deeply concerned about how they are going to pay their own bills and look after their families.
“Following the collapse of Ilke Homes, we have been instructed by more than 80 former employees who have lost their jobs and are now seeking a protection award against the company.
“While there are reports suggesting the business will be bought out of administration, this does not prevent people who have already been made redundant being able to make a claim even if they are offered their jobs in due course.
“Of course, for many of our clients this would be the ideal outcome, but the protection award is being claimed because the dismissal process was not followed properly, which of course has a short-term impact on welfare a person’s finances”.
A spokesman for AlixPartners, the appointed administrator, said this was an “incredibly difficult time” for everyone associated with Ilke Homes, particularly its employees.
