The mass scale dismissals carried out by P&O Ferries have led to a huge reaction from members of the public, trade unions as well as the Government. The company made a shock announcement to all 786 employees towards the end of March, in which they confirmed that their employment would end with immediate effect.
The CEO has since confirmed that they carried out this dismissal knowingly that they were doing so unlawfully and went so far as to acknowledge that the trade unions would not have agreed to the company’s plans for making redundancies.
Damage to the company
Aside from the unlawfulness of their actions, P&O Ferries have suffered significantly from a public relations perspective. It has since been confirmed by the company, that to sufficiently compensate all 786 employees in exchange for them not pursuing legal action at tribunal amounts to £36 million.
It has been reported that forty employees are due to receive more than £100,000 in compensation, with some individuals receiving more than £170,000. However, it appears that not all those dismissed will be accepting a settlement agreement, as it has been reported that a chef who had over 20 years’ service with the company is claiming unfair dismissal, race discrimination and harassment.
Dismissals: what did P&O get wrong?
We shall be running a webinar on 9 June where we look at what P&O got wrong in the handling of the dismissals. You can register for our event here.
Further Information
For further guidance on this topic please contact us or get in touch with us on 0844 324, 5840 and speak to a member of the team.
