Marks and Spencer silences ‘whistleblower’

UK – Marks & Spencer (M&S) has suspended the worker who blew the whistle on its proposals to cut redundancy terms for more than 60,000 staff.

The suspended M&S worker, who leaked an email circulated to as many as 2,000 employees outlining plans to slash redundancy payouts by up to 30%, will also face disciplinary action by the retailer. The employee, who is based at the retailer's London head office, has worked for M&S for 25 years.

According to Maria Ludkin, head of legal affairs for the GMB, Britain's general work union, the reaction from M&S is disproportionate. “They’re acting as though he’s responsible for stealing the Colonel’s secret recipe. He’s only aired widely held views and concerns about the changes being proposed,” she told The Times.

Ludkin, who will represent the suspended worker, added that the union will consider taking further action if the individual loses his job.

Under the proposed changes, the maximum redundancy payout would be cut from 70 weeks to 52 weeks. According to The Times, this means that those aged over 41 would get three weeks' pay for every year they have worked instead of the current 3.75 weeks' pay, while staff aged between 22 and 40 would receive two weeks' pay instead of 2.5. M&S, which has been hit hard by the economic slowdown and poor sales at its food division, said that the new terms would help reduce the cost of any job losses.

A spokeswoman for M&S refused to comment on the suspension or the disciplinary hearing. “We cannot go into specifics as it is an internal matter,” she said.

She added that M&S always approaches disciplinary action in a “careful manner and considered way”.

The disciplinary hearing is set for next Monday, the day the controversial cuts to redundancy terms will take effect.