Carillion collapse: Furious workers left out of money and out of contact by liquidators PwC
Sacked Carillion workers say they have been cast adrift with no money and little information despite a string of Government reassurances about the welfare of staff caught up in the company's collapse.
This week the Insolvency Service claimed it was making a priority of making redundancy payments to former Carillion workers.
But the Express & Star has been told of a lack of communication leaving former staff without the vital information they need in order to make any claims.
Nearly 1,000 people have lost their jobs at the Wolverhampton-based construction and services giant since it collapsed last month, with debts in the billions and just £29 million in the bank.
While 6,600 jobs have been secured, the future of more than 10,000 UK Carillion workers still hangs in the balance.
In an update yesterday, the Official Receiver said deals with new companies buying Carillion contracts had secured the jobs of another 942 workers, but 152 are being made redundant this week.
While 7,610 jobs have been secured, 1,141 have been lost and the future of around 10,000 UK Carillion workers still hangs in the balance.
Lucky
One former management level employee who has managed to secure a new job said he was still waiting for his P45 and the claimant code that would allow him to receive redundancy and statutory notice.
"I'm lucky, I've got a new job. But there are a lot of people out there who haven't, young families with no access to any money, no savings and no way of paying the bills.
"We have had no letters giving the codes to allow us to claim redundancy and statutory notice from PwC despite them being promised within a week. No P45’s have been issued.
"This is a constant theme across the redundant staff.
"Some staff are trying to pay mortgages at the month end with nothing forthcoming from the liquidators and they feeling totally abandoned with no feedback or support from the special managers."
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Former Carillion workers have spoken to the Express & Star but have asked for their identities to remain confidential.
"We should be able to speak openly, with our names next to what we say, but that's not the situation we are in. It's hard enough trying to find a job when you've worked at Carillion - the name is just toxic at the moment."
The blame for the lack of information and the go-slow on redunancy payments is laid firmly at the door of PwC, the accountancy firm brought in by the Official Receiver as special manager for the liquidation of Carillion on January 15.
Deplorable
One former Carillion manager said: "The way we have all been treated is absolutely deplorable. I've been through a redundancy process before, during the crash of 2008, and that was done properly. We were always kept informed and payed out proper redundancy. The way it has been handled this time is absolutely atrocious.
"I was among around 575 people who were told on January 25 we were part of a 45-day redundancy consultation. On the afternoon of February 2 I was telephoned and told I was being made redundant in three hours time. My mobile phone and internet was cut off and I was told I wouldn't be paid after 5pm that day.
"We had a letter from PwC telling us we would be provided with a code to be able to claim statutory redundancy. I'm still waiting. I've tried calling and was told by someone from PwC that he couldn't deal with it and I'd have to email. I'm still waiting for a response to my email.
"It's not much use telling the bank you can't pay the mortgage because you're redundancy money still hasn't turned up. I'm trying to find another job but the Carillion name is toxic. It makes it incredibly difficult to find work."
Confused
His colleague, a more senior executive who had started out with Tarmac in the 1980s before Carillion was spun off in 1999, said: "The Carillion IT systems has been turned off, so no-one can contact HR and there is no response from PwC. I've emailed them five times with no answer.
"Fortunately Carillion employed a lot of talented people so there are jobs for them out there but in the meantime they are struggling, unable to pay the bills. Even when they do find work, they still have all the bills they couldn't pay in the meantime because there has been no redunancy pay.
"People are also getting confused because a number of Carillion's subsidiary companies still appear to be in operation, with people still being paid. There's a lot of suspicion that PwC has been cherry-picking the businesses they handle to secure more fees.
"I've been told PwC being paid £2,000 per person per week to handle the liquidation and are demanding that public sector clients pay an additional cost to cover their fees and operating costs in advance on public sector contracts."
Complaints
A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said: “We have received no complaints around failing to respond to correspondence and our customer helpline is closely monitored.
"We are prioritising the payment of redundancy payments owed to the former employees of Carillion and have established a specialist team spanning both the Redundancy Payments Service and the company’s HR department to process these as quickly as possible.
"All eligible employees of the group can make a claim for redundancy, including those who have transferred to new suppliers.
“Carillion’s 18,000 staff were employed by many separate entities on different terms and conditions and our work so far has been to establish these details so that claims can be paid speedily.
"In future they can expect to receive the information they need to submit their claim within seven days of being made redundant or transferring to a new employer. Through the systems we have established we are aiming to pay Carillion claims quicker than our agreed 14 day target.”
Regarding payments to PwC, the spokeperson said: “Remuneration for the Special Managers will be approved by the court. Given the scale and complexity of the liquidation, it is too early to estimate the total cost.”
