Ferry operator faces 'hefty price tag ' over sackings - expert

An employment barrister has warned that P&O ferries faces a 'hefty price tag ' for its actions in suddenly sacking 800 staff without warning.

The ferry operator last week announced controversial plans to make 800 employees redundant with immediate effect and replace them with cheaper agency staff.

The staff were reportedly informed of the decision via Zoom.

Alex Mellis (pictured), an employment barrister at No5 Barristers ' Chambers, said that there would undoubtedly be legal implications for what P&O had done.

Mr Mellis said: “By all accounts, there seems to me no doubt that there has been a failure to consult the workers affected by this decision and this will likely lead into various avenues of legal proceedings.

“In the short term, we may well see the trade unions seek an injunction in the High Court, although we would expect to see it imminently if it were to happen at all and it is likely to enter a relatively untested area of law.

“This would essentially force P&O to carry out the consultation with workers that should have happened.

“There is also a mechanism for the failure to provide consultation which can be sought by the trade unions in a complaint to the Employment Tribunal.

“If the Tribunal agrees the consultation was not carried out, a protective award can be ordered. This would come in the form of a week 's pay for a period of 90 days, dependent on the severity and egregiousness of the breach by the employer, so we could see P&O needing to pay out up to 90 days ' additional pay for all 800 employees.

“There are also grounds for these workers to individually claim for unfair dismissal. In a simple unfair dismissal case, the pay-out will be capped at a year 's salary for every employee who takes this step, which may well be a similar amount to the recently announced 'enhanced ' redundancy packages that have been discussed.

“Whether made redundant or dismissed without notice, P&O will be expected to pay out a year 's salary to these workers as standard, with some able to claim more should there be further discrimination involved in the dismissal.

“For whichever avenue of legal proceedings take place, it is set to be a hefty price tag for P&O, although one they may well have calculated and decided to take already. ”