P&O Ferries: Redundancy

(asked on 23rd March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on whether P&O Ferries notified the competent authority of its intention to make 800 employees redundant.


Answered by
Robert Courts Portrait
Robert Courts
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This question was answered on 1st April 2022

There are clear requirements around both consultation and notification when making collective redundancies. The vessels in question are under the flags of Cyprus, Bermuda and Bahamas, so notification should have been given to them. However, the period in which such notice should be given (45 days’ notice where 100 or more redundancies) still applies so if these authorities were only notified on 17 March, that suggests P&O have failed to comply.

We are actively working with other Governments to establish the facts on this and will assess next steps in due course.

The Chief Executive of P&O Ferries has admitted that he broke the law by choosing not to consult staff.

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