Tribunal Rules Carillion Compensation Case Can Proceed 

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• Tribunal Rules Carillion Compensation Case Can Proceed 

13 July 2021

Workers seeking compensation following Carillion's collapse have secured a significant legal victory.

263 Unite members are seeking compensation for when they lost their jobs after construction and outsourcing company Carillion collapsed in January 2018.

The compensation is being sought due to Carillion’s failure to inform and consult the employees before they lost their jobs.

This week, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that the case could proceed, dismissing the Carillion group’s appeal.

Carillion was a British construction and FM services company, which was put into liquidation in 2018 after revelations about its financial difficulties. The liquidation caused huge project delays nationally and abroad, and over 3,000 redundancies within Carillion. The conduct of the firm's board was also called into question, and the UK government looked to ban eight former directors from senior boards.

Employment Tribunal 

In January 2021, the Employment Tribunal rejected Carillion’s argument that what they claimed were “special circumstances” applicable to the group company’s collapse meant "no protective awards should be made" to workers for consultation failures that occurred.

Not content with the Tribunal’s 95-page decision on the point, Carillion mounted an appeal that was heard in the Employment Appeal Tribunal on Tuesday 6 July.

However, the President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal rejected this argument in an oral judgment last week and ruled that the decision made at the original employment tribunal to allow the cases to continue was correct.

A seven-week hearing is scheduled for 2022, when the decision to award members a protective award for the failure of Carillion to inform and consult them, will be made.

Landmark Case for Future Workers Who Lose Jobs Without Warning

Unite Assistant General Secretary for LegalAaffairs Howard Beckett said: “This was a vitally important case not just for the former Carillion workers but all workers, who lose their jobs without warning in the future.

“Unite made a commitment when Carillion collapsed to do everything possible to protect our members who lost their jobs without warning through no fault of their own. Three and half years later we are still fighting for our members to receive the compensation they deserve.

“While this was an important victory the battle for compensation for our members is far from over and Unite will continue to represent them until this case is finally resolved.”

Picture: a photograph of a gavel

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 13 July 2021

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