Sacked workers win quarter million pound settlement

Former employees of defunct Scottish construction company Land Engineering Scotland have won a quarter million pound compensation award after they were made redundant last year with less than a day’s notice.

The company which went under last summer failed to consult the workforce about their redundancies and so were in breach of UK employment law.

Scottish law firm Thompsons Solicitors, acted for dozens of Land Engineering’s former staff and helped them win what is known as a Protective Award.

Land Engineering had offices in Glasgow, East Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, the Lothian’s and Fife.

The team at Thompsons have previously won similar awards for Ayrshire warehouse workers sacked with 15 minutes notice by notorious Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley and workers dumped after the Tullis Russell paper mill in Fife went bust.

Lawyers at Thompsons said they were happy with the outcome and again raised the issue of company directors breaking the law by not giving staff proper notice of redundancies.

David Martyn, a partner in the firm’s employment law department, said: “This is a fantastic result for former Land Engineering staff. These were people who would have been left with minimal statutory payments had we not undertaken this legal action. All too often company directors think they can flout the law and cast workers aside with little or no notice of redundancy.”

“The law on this matter is quite clear but yet many companies continue to behave in this manner. It’s very important that the UK Insolvency Service uses the powers they have to prosecute company directors who behave in this manner. This would act as a strong deterrent against bosses behaving in this shabby and illegal way.”