More than 100 former employees who lost their jobs when an Ipswich firm which went into administration have been awarded a total of at least £300,000.
Call Connection Ltd of Cromwell Square, Ipswich - an independent telephone lead generator and contact business centre specialising in the insurance and finance service industries - went into administration last year, putting 134 people out of work.
Now 117 of the former employees have been awarded protective awards for 90 days by Judge Warren at Bury St Edmunds Employment Tribunal after the former workers complained they were “left in the dark” over developments concerning their future employment.
Many of the employees had been with the firm for 10 years or more and were said to be shocked and angry when told the firm was to cease trading.
A protective award is the legal term for wages approved as compensation after employers failed to keep their employees fully informed of the employment situation under the terms of the Trade Union and Labour relations Act.
A protective award, approved by the government, has a ceiling of just over £300 a week.
This works out to about £3,600 for each claimant and Judge Warren said the awards would cover 90 says from July last year.
The former employees had made legal claims against Call Connection Ltd and the government’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – the department involved in administration matters.
The claimants made legal claims for protective awards, redundancy and breach of contract.
The firm did not attend the hearing.
Other former employees are now expected to make similar claims.
Call Connection’s demise represents a tragic fall for the company, a contact centre business specialising in the insurance and financial services industries, which was launched in 2003 and for most of its history has been led by local businessman Graeme Kalbraier.
The company was a well-known employer in the town and in past years has won a number of awards including the EADT’s Business of the Year award in 2007.
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