Thousands of Lancashire employers exposed to breach of contract claims

By Hesford Media

13 Nov 2020

compromise.jpg

Thousands of employers in Lancashire are likely to have expensive legal claims made against them in 2020 and 2021 as it comes to light that a huge number are in breach of their contract with their employees after engaging with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.  

While those companies who have an in-house HR or legal representative at hand may be protected, the greatest risk is to micro businesses who are likely to have DIY-ed their legal and HR processes at the start of the pandemic.

It was assumed by many, that the CJRS simply replaced the employment contract they had with their employees, but this is simply not the case. Where an employment contract was in situ a fixed number of hours, for a fixed level of pay – employers will find themselves in breach of contract where they have paid 80% of their employees salary without mutual agreement to amend the employment contract.

As many employers will have simply told their workforce to ‘stay at home’ and receive 80% pay for doing so, they have neglected to understand that the original employment contract is still legally binding if no formal changes are made and agreed, and this exposes them to claims being made against them for the remaining 20% of their pay.

Victoria Hodkinson, from the Commercial Department at TEN Legal Solicitors says, “We are already seeing employees who have been made redundant, who are not entitled to much or any redundancy pay due to a short service with their employer and the prospects of finding a new job looking bleak, that are making legal enquiries as to whether their employer still owes them anything.

We are also receiving a high number of enquiries from smaller organisations, sometimes with just one or two employees, who realise that they have unknowingly exposed themselves to expensive claims for breach of contract. A lot of our recent work has been around Compromise Agreements, which pay the employee a severance payment in order to waive their entitlement to a future claim, in order to mitigate that future risk”

It is not unlikely that some law firms will start to advertise, in the same way they do for personal injury and mis sold PPI, asking employees whether they agreed to change their employment contract when they were furloughed and offering them compensation if they did not – making this type of claim a very lucrative industry over the coming months and years.

Latest news

1

High street retailers urged to ‘take advantage’ of new funded support programme Brian Moore, Lee Johnson, Anne Williamson and Andrew Leeming

High street retailers urged to ‘take advantage’ of new funded support programme

08 Sep 2025

2

Beaverbrooks invest in the high street in difficult conditions Mark Adlestone And Anna Blackburn Beaverbrooks

Beaverbrooks invest in the high street in difficult conditions

08 Sep 2025

3

Preston City Council invests £250,000 in NW Mutual NW Mutual chief exec Dave Burke and Valerie Wise and Matthew Brown from Preston City Council

Preston City Council invests £250,000 in NW Mutual

08 Sep 2025

4

Profit before tax doubles for Eric Wright Group in latest results Jeremy Hartley

Profit before tax doubles for Eric Wright Group in latest results

08 Sep 2025

5

Bodycare set to shut 32 of its stores Nick Holloway of administrators Interpath

Bodycare set to shut 32 of its stores

05 Sep 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs
Sub36 Deaf Village Social1200
Networking
17 Sep 2025

Sub36 Networking - Follow the signs

The Deaf Village, Blackburn, BB2 5EN

10:00 - 12:00

LBV124 September/October Launch Event
MBP Arc Cinema Preston Opening 205
Networking
18 Sep 2025

LBV124 September/October Launch Event

The Arc Cinema, Preston, PR1 2BL

08:30 - 10:30

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Longridge Soap Box Derby
Screenshot 2025-06-10 090035.png.png
LBV Hub Fundraisers
14 Sep 2025 - 14 Sep 2025

Longridge Soap Box Derby

Berry Lane, Longridge, PR3 3WH

10:00 - 16:30

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!
Preston Tech Connection Sept 25.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Sep 2025 - 16 Sep 2025

Preston Tech Connection - The Ultimate Tech Quiz!

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:00

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
17 Sep 2025 - 17 Sep 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

Cumbria Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880461633-4862066883-1-original.20241022-110415.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
19 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Cumbria Business Expo 2025

Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS

09:00 - 15:00

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation
Chorley Council breakfast event new
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Your Business, Your Region: Making sense of devolution and Local Government Reorganisation

Worden Hall, Leyland, PR25 3DH

08:00 - 11:00

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September
Sept Freelancer (1).png.png
LBV Hub Networking
23 Sep 2025 - 23 Sep 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: September

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Speed Networking with BNI
2.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
24 Sep 2025 - 24 Sep 2025

Speed Networking with BNI

Chorley Football Club, Chorley, PR7 3DU

16:00 - 19:00

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September
TMM Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
25 Sep 2025 - 25 Sep 2025

The Marketing Meetup IRL: Lancashire - September

Chorley, PR7 2SL

18:00 - 20:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV 123 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin