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Former workers at the Rosyth Dockyard in Fife have been awarded thousands of pounds at an employment tribunal after they received incorrect redundancy payments. Unite, one of the unions that brought the legal action on behalf of the staff, estimated that the total compensation bill for shipyard operator Babcock International could reach £1.5m, as up to 400 workers could benefit from the decision. The employees made claims for breach of contract, arguing that they had not received the redundancy payments they were entitled to. The dispute centered on a collective agreement that was reached in 1997, which introduced new redundancy terms to be phased in until 2006. The agreement entitled staff to statutory redundancy pay that was enhanced by two elements: a lump sum of £1,500 and one day’s basic pay for each six months’ service up to a maximum of 90 days. In 1997 the majority of the employees worked a 37 hour week over five days, which meant staff were working 7.4 hours a day on average, but in 2002 the company introduced a four-day working week, with weekly working hours remaining the same and staff working 9.25 hours per day on average. In 2005, the Prospect union sought clarification over how the organisation was calculating a day’s pay. The firm’s head of HR verified that one day’s pay constituted 9.25 hours. An employee who works a four day week working pattern is also required to book off 9.25 hours to take one day’s leave. A number o