M&S 'whistleblower' sacked

A worker at Marks & Spencer in the UK who was suspended after “blowing the whistle” on plans to cut redundancy pay to staff has been sacked, it was announced today.

The man faced a three-hour disciplinary hearing on Monday, at which he was represented by the GMB union, and was told to return today to hear the outcome.

The GMB said the man was told he was being dismissed for gross misconduct.

The employee, based at the retail giant’s London head office, contacted the media last month after the company told staff it was planning to reduce redundancy payouts.

M&S changed its original proposals following consultations with staff but has still reduced redundancy payouts.

An employee will now receive a maximum of 62 weeks’ pay rather than the previous 70, although this is more than the original proposal of 52 weeks.

A spokesman for M&S confirmed the man had been dismissed following a disciplinary hearing, adding that it was based on three main reasons.

“He broke the company’s rules and regulations and deliberately leaked internal company information and made derogatory and speculative comments to the media, despite a variety of internal routes available to address any concerns.

“Thirdly, we cannot be confident that he will not disclose information in this way again.”

The company said it did not regard the case as “whistle-blowing” because it did not believe it was doing anything wrong.

Maria Ludkin, the GMB’s legal officer who represented the man at the disciplinary hearing, said: “This is a gross act of corporate bullying.

“The disappointing part of today’s decision is that M&S head of global HR, John Wareham, stated that the 25-year long service of this employee is totally irrelevant to the decision to sack him.

“M&S have shown that they are more concerned about maintaining a repressive regime for their staff than about promoting open discussion about the direction of the company and the way that the staff are treated.

“GMB will be appealing against this decision in the internal procedures and will launch a public campaign to secure justice for this M&S worker inside and outside the company.”