Paul Murphy presses minister on Debenhams redundancy and training fund
Paul Murphy raised the plight of former Debenhams workers and questioned the minister on access to a special Covid-era redundancy payment and a £3 million training fund. He argued the workers' struggle epitomised pandemic-era employment treatment and sought clarity on reckonable service and support measures.
Questions raised
Paul Murphy asked two specific questions: whether the former Debenhams workers would be able to apply for and access the special payment announced by the Government, and whether the agreed £3 million training fund from the dispute would be distributed to support their return to work.
Government announcement summary
The minister outlined the Government decision that employees who lost their jobs during Covid would be able to seek redundancy and that a special payment would be available to workers who lost out on reckonable service. The statement also signalled a flexible and discretionary approach to granting that payment.
Minister's response on the training fund
The minister said the training fund has been sanctioned and should be up and running to provide support for people who want to return to work, and that he would look into the issue of the fund's distribution in the Debenhams case.
Reckonable service and fairness argument
The minister defended the decision as fair, saying it would be grossly unfair to deny employees the reckonable 18-month period when calculating redundancy entitlements after being prevented from triggering claims by the statutory Covid position. He added that the recent change allows people to claim and the State will provide funding so that the reckonable period counts towards redundancy calculations.
Next steps and limits on comment
The minister said he could not comment on particular cases until he had all of the details, indicating further clarification and case-by-case assessment may follow for former Debenhams workers seeking the payment or training support.
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For over a year, Debedham's workers waged a heroic struggle against the loss of their jobs and their treatment by their employer. In many respects, their struggle epitomised the treatment of some workers by some employers in the course of the pandemic. Yesterday, the Government announced that employees who had lost their jobs during Covid would now be able to seek redundancy, and they also announced a special payment to workers who had lost out on reckonable service as a consequence of the pandemic. The statement also said that the Government would take a flexible and discretionary approach to the granting of that payment. So, two questions for the Minister. One, will the Debenhams workers, who were very severely affected by the pandemic, be able to apply for and access the special payment? And, secondly, can the Government act to ensure that the £3 million training fund, which was agreed at the conclusion of that dispute, is actually distributed? Thank you. Yeah, Deputy, thank you for again raising the issue of the former Debenhams workers, and I will look into the issue of that training fund because we have sanctioned it. The fund should be up and running to provide support for people who want to return to work if they have not already returned to work. The decision that we made yesterday, I believe, is a fair one because it would be grossly unfair having not allowed employees to trigger a redundancy claim for a period of 18 months to then deny them that period as being reckonable when it comes to calculating their redundancy entitlements. So, I cannot comment on any particular case until I have all of the details, but the very intention of what the Government announced was to address that situation, because people were denied the right to claim redundancy because of the statutory position underpinned by Covid. That has now changed, and we are allowing people to claim, and the State is going to step up and provide the funding to ensure that that reckonable period counts for their redundancy. Are you Dennis COE why? Thank you. Thank you. Paul��라고요. Karl Police for the
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