Fastway workers’ pay and welfare
Paul Murphy described workers left unpaid and in limbo after Fastway Couriers entered receivership. The Minister said the receiver was independent, but the Department of Social Protection was engaging with affected workers and the receiver.
Over 1,000 workers have been left in a desperate situation by Fastway Couriers going into receivership. These are direct workers and workers from franchisees. They have all been left being owed back pay or a back month of pay.
They are owed wages. They should be owed redundancy. They are now struggling to pay bills and mortgages. However, they have been told they are effectively locked out for a month from accessing social welfare. They have been told they are still legally working for Fastway for 30 days from the point at which the receivership was announced but they will not get paid until the new year. The kicker is they cannot claim social welfare benefits in those 30 days and if they seek to claim social welfare benefits or they even start new employment, they would lose any redundancy entitlements.
They are left in a terrible limbo situation in the run up to Christmas. They want the Government to intervene. The first ask is whether the relevant Ministers will meet with those workers and then work with the Department of Social Protection to ensure they get what they need.
Comment on this
I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue. My thoughts are with all those workers affected by this receivership. I know how concerning it is for each of them. As the Deputy knows, a receiver is individually appointed by a lender to take control of a company. Its role is to secure the assets in that respect. The receiver is independent in its role and the Government cannot intervene in how the receiver approaches the position.
However, I understand the Department of Social Protection is engaging directly with the receiver and the affected employees in this case to provide the necessary information and support during this time. There are robust protections in place for employees of an insolvent employer and the receiver submitted a collective redundancy notification to the Department of enterprise on 31 October. It is currently undertaking the 30-day consultation with the employees' representatives. I will reflect the concerns the Deputy has raised. I know there are significant concerns across the House for all of the employees involved but there is a formal legal mechanism in how this operates from a legislative position.