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Two employees who were refused redundancy payment following an instance where they were made redundant and offered lower paying jobs has been given a total of £20,000 towards compensation.

The two employees, Stephen Morgan from Newport and one of his colleagues were dismissed from their jobs as train drivers. They had been employed with the firm DB Schenker Rail UK Ltd. The two employees were given the chance to opt for alternate roles in the capacity of driver operators, but with a pay cut of £8,000 per year. Both workers tried out their new roles for a trial period of four weeks, following which they both decided not to work in that capacity as they were unwilling to put up with lesser pay as well as reduced responsibility.

The representatives of the workers, Thompsons Solicitors, stated that the men should have received redundancy payment as they had not been provided with appropriate alternative employment and it was in the purview of their rights to refuse the unsuitable employment in the driver operator roles. Mr Morgan was awarded an amount of 12,000 by the Cardiff Employment Tribunal related with damages and the other union member was awarded £8,000.

Claire Anthony from Thompsons Solicitors stated that workers in such situations, who are provided with alternate employment, have four weeks to decide if the new role is suitable for them. The two members felt that the noticeable reduction in their status as well as their pay was something they were not willing to accept and they were thus, justified in refusing the new roles. Thy should have been entitled to a redundancy payment which has now been initiated due to the efforts of the Employment Tribunal

Officials at the DB Schenker Rail UK Ltd remain unavailable for comment.

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