It was with sadness but little surprise that I read of the Marussia Formula 1 Team’s demise on Friday last week. They and the Caterham team had both already missed the US Grand Prix the week before. The reason – a sport that epitomises the gulf between the haves and have-nots that blights much of the sporting world these days. This latest news goes beyond sport; it is the loss, we are told, of 200 jobs that is particularly sad.
It is now vitally important that the employees of the company exercise all their rights to pursue claims to the National Insurance Fund. Some of these claims are less obvious than others. One particular head of claim which is often overlooked is the claim for a protective award as a result of the employer’s failure to carry out consultation with employee representatives or trade unionofficials. The award can be for up to 90 days’ pay, and often is, particularly where the employer has carried out little or no consultation.
On a number of occasions, we have been instructed by groups of employees to bring claims for a protective award where their employer has entered insolvency proceedings and where they have lost their jobs with little or no consultation. Such cases are normally suitable to run on a “no win, no fee” basis, so long as a sufficient number of employees join in the claim, as it is highly likelytribunals will make an award where no consultation has occurred.
If there is to be one crumb of comfort out of this sad episode, it will hopefully be that the innocent employees of Marussia receive every payment they are entitled to from the National Insurance Fund.
It is unlikely that the situation that has been played out at Marussia will be the last of its type. It is rumoured that the other smaller teams, such as Force India, Sauber and Lotus, are all in a difficult financial predicament. As a fan of the Sauber team, I speak as somebody who will most probably turn their back on Formula 1 should the team leave the sport. Three car teams, which has been mooted by the powers that be as a solution to the ever shrinking grid, is not a spectacle I wish to watch. A sport in which the minnows are cast aside in favour of the moneyed few is arguably not a sport at all.
Nevertheless, my personal sadness at the impending disappearance of a sport that I have viewed race after race, year on year, since the age of six cannot compare to the impact on those whose livelihoodsdepend on Formula 1 remaining a sport in the true sense of the word.
by Charles Millett