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P&O Ferries: mass sackings not illegal
P&O Ferries has maintained it has not broken any laws in the mass firing of nearly 800 workers.
P&O Ferries CEO, Peter Hebblethwaite said all ships involved were foreign flagged and so are not subject to UK law.
The workers were dismissed without notice, and immediately removed from the ships.
It caused widespread outrage, and has raised concerns about gaps in employment law.
In a letter to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng Hebblethwaite said the ‘very clear statutory obligation applied each company to notify the competent authority of the state where the vessel is registered.’
Kwarteng confirmed the government had received a letter from the firm.
Compensation of £36.5m is being offered by P&O Ferries to staff sacked.
“This has been an incredibly tough decision for the business: to make this choice or face taking the company into administration. This would have meant the loss of 3,000 jobs and the end of P&O ferries,” the company said.
P&O Ferries said it is paying more than the statutory minimum redundancy payments.
Hebblethwaite has been invited to attend a session of the Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Transport Committees to answer questions.
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