Redundant Kwik Save staff will have to claim back-pay via DTI

Kwik Save employees who are made redundant as a result of the retailer going into administration will have to apply to the government for statutory redundancy pay, holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice.

An administration order was granted yesterday, with KPMG as the administrator. 90 stores will close, while a further 56 will be transferred to a new company, under the name Fresh Express.

Retail union Usdaw said that hundreds of its members who worked for six weeks without pay will be devastated if Kwik Save goes into administration.

The union said that employees who will work in the transferred stores under the company name, Fresh Express, will receive the same terms and conditions as previously, and that the new owners have made a commitment to pay their new staff their back-pay by next Tuesday at the latest.

However, employees who have now been made redundant and those who lost their jobs last month at the closure of 81 Kwik Save shops, will have to apply for statutory protection.

Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw national officer, said: “Our members will be feeling they have been totally let down by Kwik Save and we will support them through the next difficult period as they claim statutory redundancy pay, holiday pay and pay in lieu of notice through the Department of Trade and Industry.”

The union said that KPMG will write to those who have lost their jobs with details of how they can claim such statutory redundancy payments.