Thomas Cook employees receive pay outs

LONDON - Legal action by Unite union has secured compensation up to a maximum of 4,200 pounds each for more than 2,000 Thomas Cook staff who lost their jobs when the travel firm collapsed in September 2019. The claims will be settled by a government funded insolvency claims scheme.

The compensation was awarded after Unite brought an employment tribunal claim over Thomas Cook’s failure to consult over the redundancies. The claim was brought by Unite on behalf of 2,109 members who were Thomas Cook cabin crew or engineers based across the UK.

"The tribunal found in favour of Unite because Thomas Cook should have begun consultation with the union at least 45 days before any redundancies took place,", the union said. "The claim was made more difficult to pursue because Unite had to gain permission from the courts to launch it, as the company had been forced into compulsory administration."

As Thomas Cook no longer exists, the protective pay award will be provided by the government-funded Insolvency Service, which caps protective pay awards at maximum of eight weeks pay at £525 a week. Some members have already been paid part of their awards after claims were submitted to the Redundancy Payments Office, which issued payments in advance of the judgement.