Tweet
Hi all, hoping someone can give me some guidance -
I worked for company "A" for three years and 1 month, continuously, as a PAYE employee with a valid contract of employment and salary of £36,000/annum paid monthly in arrears.
I only received one-third of my June 2013 salary, as the employer advised it was having cash-flow problems caused by a "client going bust". I then only received one-third of my July salary for the same reason. At the very end of July the employer advised it was insolvent, and had appointed an insolvency practitioner to liquidate the company.
At the same time as declaring insolvency, the Directors of company "A" formed a new company "B" in order to continue business, and legally purchased, via an agent, the "assets and goodwill" of company "A".
Prior to this, I had begun seeking a new job, as I was concerned at the way the business was operating when I only received part of my salary. I have been very lucky to secure a new job starting in September.
I completed the RP1 form to claim my outstanding pay, holiday pay and redundancy payments from the National Insurance Fund via the Insolvency Service Redundancy Payments Office.
However, I have been advised today by the Liquidator that, because company "B" purchased the assets and goodwill of company "A", I am not entitled to any claim for outstanding pay, holiday pay or redundancy pay from the National Insurance Fund, as my employment was transferred to company "B" under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.
This is despite the fact that I received NO communication (either written, emailed or verbal) from company "A" that I was being invited to join company "B". My understanding is that they made the assumption all employees would transfer, and so carried this out without reference to the employees. I did not receive a new contract of employment from company "B", although if the terms are the same I suppose I might not have received one. I did advise company "B" that I had found new employment elsewhere.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the Accountants (same accountant for both companies) have issued me with a P45 effective the day company "A" declared insolvency, which I would surmise signals the end of my employment - had the accountants been notified of continuity of employment you would assume my tax records would be migrated internally.
What are my options - the Liquidator suggests that, as my employment has been transferred (whether I was aware of it or not), the only option is to take legal action against company "B" for the outstanding salary. Is this feasible, given that the salary owed is from the insolvent company or are salary debts and underpayments transferred along with my other rights? I was not listed as a creditor at the liquidation of company "A" although I do not know if unpaid employee salaries are normally included in that list.
One issue that I'm relatively confident doesn't complicate the scenario is that the Directors asked for my temporary help at company "B" to migrate management of some of the services for which I was responsible. I was happy to do this, as I was otherwise in limbo during August, waiting for my new job to start. I have NOT received any payment for this work.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
Bill.
I worked for company "A" for three years and 1 month, continuously, as a PAYE employee with a valid contract of employment and salary of £36,000/annum paid monthly in arrears.
I only received one-third of my June 2013 salary, as the employer advised it was having cash-flow problems caused by a "client going bust". I then only received one-third of my July salary for the same reason. At the very end of July the employer advised it was insolvent, and had appointed an insolvency practitioner to liquidate the company.
At the same time as declaring insolvency, the Directors of company "A" formed a new company "B" in order to continue business, and legally purchased, via an agent, the "assets and goodwill" of company "A".
Prior to this, I had begun seeking a new job, as I was concerned at the way the business was operating when I only received part of my salary. I have been very lucky to secure a new job starting in September.
I completed the RP1 form to claim my outstanding pay, holiday pay and redundancy payments from the National Insurance Fund via the Insolvency Service Redundancy Payments Office.
However, I have been advised today by the Liquidator that, because company "B" purchased the assets and goodwill of company "A", I am not entitled to any claim for outstanding pay, holiday pay or redundancy pay from the National Insurance Fund, as my employment was transferred to company "B" under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.
This is despite the fact that I received NO communication (either written, emailed or verbal) from company "A" that I was being invited to join company "B". My understanding is that they made the assumption all employees would transfer, and so carried this out without reference to the employees. I did not receive a new contract of employment from company "B", although if the terms are the same I suppose I might not have received one. I did advise company "B" that I had found new employment elsewhere.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the Accountants (same accountant for both companies) have issued me with a P45 effective the day company "A" declared insolvency, which I would surmise signals the end of my employment - had the accountants been notified of continuity of employment you would assume my tax records would be migrated internally.
What are my options - the Liquidator suggests that, as my employment has been transferred (whether I was aware of it or not), the only option is to take legal action against company "B" for the outstanding salary. Is this feasible, given that the salary owed is from the insolvent company or are salary debts and underpayments transferred along with my other rights? I was not listed as a creditor at the liquidation of company "A" although I do not know if unpaid employee salaries are normally included in that list.
One issue that I'm relatively confident doesn't complicate the scenario is that the Directors asked for my temporary help at company "B" to migrate management of some of the services for which I was responsible. I was happy to do this, as I was otherwise in limbo during August, waiting for my new job to start. I have NOT received any payment for this work.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
Bill.
Comment