A group of workers at a paper mill in Aberdeen have won a legal case because they were not consulted properly during a redundancy process.
Stoneywood paper mill went into administration in 2022 and administrators were appointed, leading to the loss of around 300 posts.
It had been sold to a new parent company in 2019, but continued to face financial difficulties thanks to the impact of the pandemic and rising energy costs.
In November, five former employees won a legal claim after an employment judge ruled they were made redundant without a proper 45-day consultation.
Redundancy consultation
Their lawyers argued that a consultation between the parent company, Arjowiggins, and union representatives should have begun 45 days before any redundancies, as is the law around collective redundancy.
A judge has now ruled that around 75 further workers are entitled to compensation for failure to follow the correct consultation procedures.
The overall action, backed by the Unite union, involves around 300 workers and their claims are ongoing, it said.
Unite legal officer Mark Lyon said the judgment “demonstrates that even after an employer goes out of business, if they have not done things according to the law then Unite will hold them to account even long after the business has closed its doors”.
Under collective redundancy rules, where 100 or more job losses are proposed, employers are required to consult with unions or staff representatives 45 days before the first redundancy.
For between 20 and 99 employees, this must be 30 days before the first redundancy.
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