SOUTH SOMERSET NEWS: GKN have denied that job loss notices have been given to workers

BOSSES at GKN Aerospace have denied that redundancy notices have been issued to staff at the company’s under-threat Yeovil factory.

It was reported yesterday (Wednesday, October 19, 2016) that the Unite union had said that 221 workers had been given the redundancy documents with the first jobs set to go as early as December.

But the BBC has since reported that GKN have said that nothing has changed since it first announced earlier this month that it would have to downsize or even close the Yeovil site after helicopter manufacturer Leonardo – better known as Westlands – would take much of its work back in-house.

A GKN spokesman told the BBC that an HR1 notice – a compulsory step when jobs are at risk – had been issued, but no redundancy notices had been given to workers.

But it could be argued that the HR1 notice is just the beginning of the end for workers at GKN Yeovil.

The HR1 notice has to be given to the Government by employers as an advance notification of potential redundancies.

The Redundancy Payments Service, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, collects the information and distributes it to the appropriate Government departments and agencies who offer job brokering services and/or training services.