Northampton employees at multinational company left frustrated by redundancy conditions that could leave them ‘out of pocket’ at Christmas

A team of employees at the Northampton-based head office of a national company say they have been left frustrated by the redundancy conditions they are facing.

Multinational technology company, Ricoh, which has a shared service centre located in Brackmills, has made the decision to move the work of the accounts payable team to Spain.

The team of 33 colleagues, who deal with supplier invoices, company expenses and more, have been made redundant due to the move, but have been left dismayed by the way the redundancies have been handled.

Employees claim communication from the company has been ‘sparse and poor’ and that regardless of service length, all employees have been offered statutory minimum redundancy pay, which will not be paid until the new year.

In an employee letter, seen by the Chronicle & Echo, which a version of was sent to all employees affected, the company confirms that ‘full salary’ will be received until the date of departure, which means those who leave mid-December will only be paid around half of their usual monthly salary.

The letter also confirms that the statutory redundancy pay will not be paid until January 22, 2021, which colleagues say will leave them short over Christmas.

Since the Chronicle & Echo has been asking the company for comment about these issues, affected employees have received a phone call to confirm the payment date will now be January 8, however colleagues do not feel this is much of a concession particularly as the payment date is still after the festive period.

One employee said: “We've all been made redundant before but this has been something else.

“The way they have handled it and the communication and the amount of times we’ve heard ‘statutory minimum’ even for those who have been there ten or 12 years, has been really bad.

“It's bad enough that they decide to turf out a highly-performing function into the teeth of a global pandemic right before Christmas, but to then decide to leave us penniless over the holidays is the final straw.

“Colleagues and good friends have been in floods of tears as they don’t know what they will do.

“I can cover my rent and bills, but it might be beans on toast for Christmas.

“And this is from a company that makes a lot of noise about their 'values' and how they treat people.”

Those colleagues who work until their scheduled departure date will qualify for an ‘enhanced redundancy payment’, which will top up the statutory minimum payment, but will also not be paid until the new year.

The company has confirmed in a statement to Chronicle & Echo that redundancies are taking place, however, it would not address the issues around the payment schedule or package.

A Ricoh spokesman said: "Like any responsible organisation, particularly in the current climate, Ricoh continually evaluates opportunities for structural reform to support the business and ensure we consistently provide the very best service to our customers.

"As a result, we are implementing changes that will impact some roles.

"Our focus is to ensure that the process is handled with transparency and sensitivity, and where possible, we have looked to offer employee redeployment.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on the individual circumstances of on-going employment consultations."

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