Stoneywood paper mill workers win legal battle over claims they were not properly consulted over redundancy

Five former workers at an Aberdeen paper mill have won a legal battle over claims they were made redundant without being properly consulted.

Stoneywood Mill went into administration last year after rising energy costs and pressures from both the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.

The 250-year-old mill has had a troubled past, receiving £12m in public funding in 2019 in a bid to keep it afloat

However last September, 300 employees were told they no longer had jobs.

It has now been confirmed that five former workers have won legal action after claiming they were made redundant without a proper 45-day consultation.

The five workers – whose jobs were in finance and IT – will now be entitled to compensation, capped at eight weeks wages.

A separate decision on a mass legal action on the same consultation period is expected ‘imminently’ involving around 300 workers.

Paul Kissen, from Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, told STV News: “This claim is for something called a protective award. And this happens when you’ve got a collective redundancy situation.

“Employers have got a duty when they’re going to dismiss 20 or more people all at once to carry out a collective consultation process before they effect those redundancies. And in this case the company failed to do that.

“And what the employees should be awarded, all of them, is 90 days pay. What that means in reality is they will all get eight weeks pay, which is the maximum that the redundancy payment service will pay out, which is the government.”