Jaguar Land Rover is extending its factory shutdown into next month following the cyber attack that has shut down production since August.
In a statement, the car manufacturer said it was extending “the current pause” in production until next Wednesday (1 October) following the cyber attack.
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The move follows the company earlier this month sending workers home, taking its systems offline and halting production at its factories in Halewood, Merseyside, and Solihull in the West Midlands, and at its engine manufacturing centre in Wolverhampton.
“We have made this decision to give clarity for the coming week as we build the timeline for the phased restart of our operations and continue our investigation,” the company said.
It added that it is continuing to work with cyber-security specialists, the government’s National Cyber Security Centre, and law enforcement in the wake of the attack.
The industry minister Chris McDonald and business secretary Peter Kyle are due to be visiting the manufacturer today, amid fears that the company’s suppliers could go bust without support.
Jaguar Land Rover has been unable to produce cars since the attack at the end of August, which forced it to shut down its IT networks.
The attack is estimated already to have cost the company £1.7 billion in lost revenue. It follows retailer Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods all being hit by cyber attacks this year.
Katie Garcia, associate in the employment team at law firm Birketts, pointed out that, if it comes to it, JLR could lawfully dismiss staff because of the cyber attack.
“Employers may lawfully respond to a cyber-attack that halts production by laying off staff, provided they follow the correct legal and contractual procedures. This is a temporary alternative to dismissal, often used to manage unforeseen disruptions,” she said.
Under Section 147 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, employees may be entitled to a statutory guarantee payment for short periods without work, a statutory redundancy payment, if the lay-off or short-time working continues for four consecutive weeks or six weeks in a 13-week period, she added.
“The statutory definition of lay-off only applies where pay is contractually dependent on being provided with work. If the employer pays the employee during the downtime, either contractually or through a guaranteed pay clause, the statutory lay-off provisions may not apply,” Garcia said.
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