Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

[tml]

Hi,

I'm working in small limited company, restaurant to be precise for 8 years now.
As I accidentally found out owner is about to sell the businesses, or rather sell his lease.
I also found out that if he will not be able to sell, he will liquidate company or announce bankruptcy.
Business is not well at the moment, I'm sure that one of that scenarios will happened in 2-3 months time.
As an owner he did'n inform any members of staff about his plans, I was just "in right place in right time" and overheard conversation with his agent.
My question is, am I entitled to anything at all when this will happened?
Me as employee should give now 8 weeks notice If i'd like to leave company.
Is my employer obliged to give us such a notice, are we entitled to any redundancy payment if he sells or business collapses?
There is 6 of us working there all for good few years, and we would be grateful if anyone could share his knowledge and tell us where we stand.

Kind regards,
Mike

[stevemLS]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

If the company becomes insolvent and is unable to meet its obligations to make statutory redundancy payments and unpaid wages - see here https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-if-yo...lvent/overview

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

If the company becomes insolvent and is unable to meet its obligations to make statutory redundancy payments and unpaid wages - see here https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-if-yo...lvent/overview

Thank you so so much !!!
What I can see there it is worth to stay there to the very end, as we are protected by law.
At least it's one less thing to worry.
Time to rewrite CV.

Kind regards.
Mike

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

I'm working in small limited company, restaurant to be precise for 8 years now.
As I accidentally found out owner is about to sell the businesses, or rather sell his lease.
I also found out that if he will not be able to sell, he will liquidate company or announce bankruptcy.
Business is not well at the moment, I'm sure that one of that scenarios will happened in 2-3 months time.
As an owner he did'n inform any members of staff about his plans, I was just "in right place in right time" and overheard conversation with his agent.
My question is, am I entitled to anything at all when this will happened?
Me as employee should give now 8 weeks notice If i'd like to leave company.
Is my employer obliged to give us such a notice, are we entitled to any redundancy payment if he sells or business collapses?
There is 6 of us working there all for good few years, and we would be grateful if anyone could share his knowledge and tell us where we stand.

Your employer isn't likely to give you 8 weeks notice if he decides to liquidate the company. In the UK, bankruptcy refers to an individual rather than to companies, the company would be liquidated but he may not have to petition his own bankruptcy if the debts are in the company's name. In any case, that wouldn't affect you if you are employed by the company.
If the company becomes insolvent, you can claim certain things from the Insolvency Service:

• Unpaid wages
• Statutory redundancy pay - off the top of my head, a week per year of service when you were aged 40 or under, week and a half if 41+ (may be worth double checking)
• Notice period - calculated as a week per year of service, capped at 12 weeks. However, unlike the other payments, this will only apply if you haven't got another job during that period and the IS will expect you to do as much as you can to mitigate your loss, such as claiming benefits. Any payments you receive (work or benefits) will be deducted from your entitlement.

Both the wages and redundancy payments are capped, a few years ago the cap was in the region of £450/week, may be worth checking what it is now. You will need to fill in some forms, your employer or the appointed liquidators should supply you with them. The forms will need to get back to the liquidators who have a duty to check that there's no funds available in the business before forwarding them to the IS. The process can take some time, probably 6-12 weeks, and payments will be made separately, at different times.

[stevemLS]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

Frome April 2014, the cap is £464pw

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

Thank you all.
It is much better to know where we are standing...

Kind regards,
Mike

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

We all got our notice, however it's "verbal" employer didn't give us anything on paper. So at least we know we'll be jobless just before christmas .
Can anyone with similar experience, or someone who simplu knows answer me few questions:

1. What paperwork should we get from our employer?

2. We all working on PAYE basis and all of us are doing more than contracted hours (35 on our contracts 40+ in real terms) for years(it's all on our payslips and we can prove it), what hours are taken into account when calculating leave pay.

3. There is 6 of us who work there as couples (husband and wife) so it's going to be a double trouble, and with January being the hardest time to find a job we may need to seek some government support, none of us did before so we don't really know what and how. But we all have kind so we'll need to provide for them one way or the other.

Than you in advance for your help.

Kind Regards
TML

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

We all got our notice, however it's "verbal" employer didn't give us anything on paper. So at least we know we'll be jobless just before christmas .
Can anyone with similar experience, or someone who simplu knows answer me few questions:

1. What paperwork should we get from our employer?

From experience, not much, just Insolvency Service forms to be sent back to the liquidators who have to make sure there isn't enough money in the company to pay what's owed to you.

It looks like you've been given notice so you may not be entitled to notice period pay from the IS (calculated as a week per year of service) but should be entitled to Statutory Redundancy Pay. A week's pay per year of service if aged 22 to 40, a week and a half for each year you were aged over 41. Capped at £464/wk.

2. We all working on PAYE basis and all of us are doing more than contracted hours (35 on our contracts 40+ in real terms) for years(it's all on our payslips and we can prove it), what hours are taken into account when calculating leave pay.

Holiday pay is capped at the same weekly level as the other payments: http://www.insolvency4employees.co.uk/Facts.aspx#faq10

10. How much holiday pay can I claim?

• You can be paid outstanding holiday pay for up to 6 weeks, again up to the limit of £464.00 a week. Income tax and national insurance at the basic rate are deducted from this amount. Holiday pay includes holidays taken and not paid, or holidays you have become entitled to but have not taken, during the 12-month period before your employer became insolvent.
• If when your employment ended you had not taken all your holidays, you can be paid the balance you became entitled to when your job ended. Holidays must be taken during the relevant leave year. We cannot consider payment of holidays carried forward from the previous year unless this is allowed under your contract of employment.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

3. There is 6 of us who work there as couples (husband and wife) so it's going to be a double trouble, and with January being the hardest time to find a job we may need to seek some government support, none of us did before so we don't really know what and how. But we all have kind so we'll need to provide for them one way or the other.

Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) for a start. As you were PAYE and paying contributions, you should be entitled to contribution based JSA for 6 months even for those whose partners are in work. This isn't an issue for the 3 couples who work together. If you get JSA you should also qualify for Council Tax reduction, meaning the council will pay the majority of your council tax. If you live in rented accommodation you should also be able to claim Housing Benefit. Homeowners may be able to claim Support for Mortgage Interest but this is a bit more complicated and there is normally a 13 week waiting period. You can use this service to calculate what benefits you are entitled to: http://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou

For SMI for homeowners see this: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...tgage_interest

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

Hi,

Can anyone explain me how redundancy pay is calculated?
I stared work 25th September 2006 and I'm being made redundant 21st December 2014 my contract is saying:

" Your normal working hours will be 36 hours per week. Additional hours may be offered from time to time at the above rate (it was £7 per hour when I started) but are not compulsory. "

I got pay raise to £7.2 in 2009 and another to £7.5 one just over two months ago (week before receiving redundancy letter). For the past five years I've been working every week over 40 hours and even my holidays are paid 40 hours per week, however my employer calculated my redundancy pay at the rate:

8 weeks x 36 (as in my contract) x £7.2

I think it should be as I'm 34 now

8 weeks x 40 (as that's my normal hours for the past five years) x £7.5

I know it may seem like not too much of a difference but it is a lot of money for me - especially before Christmas.
Does anyone know what documents should I get when I'm finishing, my company is closing down so it will be difficult if possible at all to get any paperwork after 21st.
So far all I got was redundancy letter and verbal promise of the lower than expected leave pay.
Any help and advice will be much appreciated.

Kind regards and thank You in advance,

Tom

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

So l got my sums today and it's the way I was worried it's going to be. Tried to argument that in the way you advised me to but was left only with "take or leave it" option as contact is for 36 hours at 7.2. What should I do now. I'm a bit upset after over 8 years employer is treated us that way. But as he's closing the business he doesn't care about us at all.

[teaboy2]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

TML - have already explained to you what your entitlement should be in your other thread - http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...cy-pay-URGENT-!

Why did you not mention in your other thread, that the employer was likely to close via liquidation, as you merely stated they were closing the business towards the end of that thread (exact same post you have copied and posted above #11), which any business owner can do at any time! You clearly think the employer doesn't care about you, but if the business is facing liquidation, then its not a case he doesn't care about any of you, its a case of what money he has left and creditors usually have to be paid first, before employees, hence why your protected and can get money from the government National Insurance Fund.

But your case is not that hes not paying you redundancy, its a dispute about what your contracted hours were and what your hourly rate was. On paper its 36hrs at 7.2 per hour. But for last x amount of years you been working you have been paid 40hrs per week, even for holidays, and in x year your hourly rate increased to 7.5. All this is provable via your copies of your wage slips! Question is is it worth pursuing for the sake of £330 which may sound a lot in the long run, but in reality isn't that much!

[tml]

Re: Company sale, liquidation, bankruptcy. Employee rights.

Sorry for double post.
Thank you.