The Labour Court has reduced by half an award provided by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to ex-employees of Debenhams. Approximately €2 million had initially been allocated to 800 staff for the business’s failure to adequately engage them prior to shutting down its outlets four years ago.
Jane Crowe, formerly of Mandate trade union and a shop steward at the Debenhams branch on Dublin’s Henry Street, was at the centre of the precedent-setting case. At the time of the firm’s liquidation, she had been employed there for almost a quarter of a century.
Moreover, it has been revealed that a bulk of the financial aid put aside for a government-supported retraining scheme for former Debenhams staff has been returned unused by the Solas educational and training agency.
In the WRC hearing, Ms Crowe was granted two weeks’ salary due to Debenhams’ prolonged delay in starting staff consultations on its closure plans, meaning that alternative resolutions weren’t feasible.
She was given an additional two weeks’ pay since liquidators Kieran Wallace and Andrew O’Leary, previously from KPMG, allegedly did not supply “relevant information” to Mandate regarding the shop’s profitability and income from online transactions.
The Labour Court, in a yet unpublished verdict sent to the parties, agreed with the initial grant but nullified the secondary one. It found that while the business had indeed limited the consultation process’s options, the liquidators had fulfilled their responsibilities.
The ruling means that Ms Crowe’s compensation will be €900, down from €1,800. As a result, the approximate total to be paid to the roughly 800 Mandate members who were Debenhams’ employees will now be €1 million, down from the initial €2 million.
Siptu represented a considerably smaller group, separately making a claim. The Labour Court’s ruling aligns broadly with the award received by Siptu member Breda Cox, a catering assistant, at the WRC.
In response to the verdict, Ms Crowe expressed both disappointment and relief. Although saddened by the reduction, she saw the upholdment of one of the claims as an acknowledgement that they were not rightly treated. She hopes that this example will aid other retail employees facing job losses due as the government has yet to implement the appropriate safeguards discussed in light of the Clerys workers’ episode.
“We are pleased about securing something extra besides the mandatory redundancy payment we received when the business shut down. Our subsequent protests and sit-ins weren’t in vain,” says the union official Michael Meegan. He has expressed optimism that staff members will indeed receive the compensation awarded. It is, however, yet to be determined if these employees will be favoured creditors in relation to the compensation awards, along with whether there would be sufficient funds to fulfil these payments.
It is vital to note that more than two-thirds of the €3 million retraining fund created to assist the displaced Debenhams employees, as part of an agreement meant to settle their conflict, was given back to the government, unused, by Solas. Worker representatives reported this.
Formerly the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Taoiseach Simon Harris had stated that the plan would provide specialised help, personalised professional guidance, financial aid for education and childcare, offering the workforce some relief in their challenging journey.
However, Ms Crowe spoke of the former Debenhams employees’ difficulties in applying for these benefits, and many faced issues in financing the preliminary expenses of purchasing equipment like laptops, a cost they were entitled to recover.
“Some of the workforce did receive money, they invested it in items like computers and some went for skill enhancing courses. However, most simply got back to their routine lives. They had to seek different sources of income,” she mentioned, “The whole programme was loosely based on a European fund, but it was felt that the rules were followed too strictly, allowing little room for flexibility.”
Of the €3 million, €2.1 million is believed to have been returned at the end of the previous year. Ms Crowe mentioned that a proposal to prolong the scheme was put forth, but failed. Solas was sought for a remark on the issue.