Former employees of GHA Coaches will receive compensation for the loss of their jobs after an Employment Tribunal Judge ruled that they unfairly treated.
Covering 183 former employees, it is the largest action of its kind in the coach and bus industry to date.
Lawyers at Manchester-based JMW Solicitors successfully represented 183 former GHA employees, in respect of their claims for protective awards following a failure by GHA to properly consult.
Led by Head of Employment Liz Cotton, the team at JMW worked hard on behalf of the group to gain compensation after the firm went into administration in July 2016.
More than 300 people were made redundant when Wrexham-based GHA Coaches ceased trading and administrators were appointed after the business, which operated public and school bus services across Clywd, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, received a winding-up petition over unpaid taxes.
The Tribunal ruled that GHA failed to properly consult with employees before making dismissals so they are entitled to 90 days’ pay (capped at eight weeks’ pay due to damages, a maximum of £3,800, being paid by the Department of Business Innovation and Skills). GHA (in administration) has also been ordered to pay the Tribunal fees.
Ms Cotton told routeone: “We are pleased that the Judge felt GHA should have done more to consult with their employees when they knew the company was in trouble.
“The damages will hopefully help the ex-employees be able to move on after losing their jobs with no warning at all.”
Last year, the firm won a similar group action on behalf of 340 staff at the parcel carrier City Link after it went out of business on Christmas Eve in 2014.
