REDUNDANT Woolworths staff are beginning to get compensation payments after the defunct company failed to give them enough notice.

Workers at the former Bicester store banded together with their manager Craig Moore and posted claims for pay-outs because they received fewer than 30 days’ notice that Woolies was going out of business.

They should have received 90 days’ notice.

Former Woolworths employee Sallie Hunt said the workers began to discuss the issue through the social networking site Facebook and eventually went to the company’s administrator Deloitte.

Now they have received £300 compensation each.

Mrs Hunt said: “All the workers were discussing extra money.

“If it wasn’t for Craig and the staff going forward with the issue we wouldn’t have got anything extra from the company.”

“We were asked to give our details to Deloitte on an application form Craig had given us. If you didn’t fill the form in, you didn’t get the cash.”

Woolworths went into administration on November 26, 2008, with debts of £385m.

Staff hoped a rescue package for at least some stores could be found. But, on December 10, they were told the firm would cease trading by January 9.

Woolworths had closed its 807 British outlets by the beginning of 2009, leaving more than 27,000 people jobless. In Oxfordshire, 323 people lost their jobs when the county’s nine stores closed.

Janet Lester, another ex-employee, said: “Sallie told me about this application form. I filled it in online in Feburary and I’m still waiting for the money.”

“I have worked for Woolworths for over 20 years and it is really good that we will be getting extra compensation.”

Like many others, Mrs Lester has been told her money is ‘on the way.’ A spokesperson for Deloitte said: “The staff are entitled to claim for what is known as a protective award from the Employment Tribunal. The compensation pay for each case is at the discretion of the tribunal.”

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