Payments of redundancy money to workers who lost their jobs because of the collapse of construction giant Carillion are being prioritised, the Insolvency Service said.
MPs have raised concerns about delays in claiming redundancy pay and have urged the Insolvency Service to give information to those affected and to set out the timescales for payments to be made.
A spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: “We are prioritising the payment of redundancy payments owed to the former employees of Carillion and have established a specialist team spanning both the Redundancy Payments Service and the company’s HR department to process these as quickly as possible.
“All eligible employees of the group can make a claim for redundancy, including those who have transferred to new suppliers.
“Carillion’s 18,000 staff were employed by many separate entities on different terms and conditions and our work so far has been to establish these details so that claims can be paid speedily.
“In future they can expect to receive the information they need to submit their claim within seven days of being made redundant or transferring to a new employer.
“Through the systems we have established we are aiming to pay Carillion claims quicker than our agreed 14-day target.”
Almost 1,000 jobs have been lost among Carillion employees since the company went into liquidation last month, with 6,600 saved so far.