The UNITE trade union has announced a £5 million out of court settlement over the MoD's failure to inform and consult the union over the transfer of fast jet servicing from DSG St Athan to private sector contractors at the RAF's main operating bases.

The settlement, which is £3,000 for each of the more than 1,600 affected workers, is thought to be the largest ever in a claim for failure to inform and consult over a transfer of an undertaking and will serve as a salutary warning to employers. This is somewhat less than the maximum of 13 weeks pay an Employment Tribunal could have awarded and was therefore a compromise position.

The settlement was made notwithstanding that the MoD's legal position was only that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations may have applied to elements of the work that transferred.

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The original publication date for this article was 08/08/2008.