I'm not sure I'd carry on working without a guarantee on wages from now until I left

No idea on what to do in that situation - but I hope you find more work soon!

CAB mate. However I should imagine the receivers will be able to explain the full situation properly on Monday. Really sorry to hear though... so close to christmas. Best of luck to you.

It was a long time ago for me but I'm sure that the liquidators employed us to remain for a few weeks and our employment with the company ended there and then

That's rubbish news! Sorry to hear that

My advice: Unless your wages are absolutely guarenteed, I'd be out of there! Your time would be better spent looking for another job, rather than working for a company that may, or may not pay you for your efforts.

Also: Have a look around you. Pick up anything of value you can sell and go and put it in your car boot. I'm not joking either. When the receivers come in, they'll have everything that's not nailed down

definitely liquidation and not administration?

What does the comapny do, the recievers may well seel it on to someone else, thus wiping out allt he debts.

I would keep attending work,but if you have a comapny vehicle make sure its still insuired as insurance prioemiums are the first thing to be dropped when a comapny starts loosing cash.

Also if the recievers come in everything as a value, for sale, if its not bolted down and it may be of use just borrow it, and possibly forget to hand it back.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Pay/DG_10026695

The thing is your comapny going bust may well take a few more out with it, its called recession aand is afecting a lot of people, sadly not the bankers who caused it to start with,

turn up on Monday and see what administrators say if you don't like it then go and get some legal advice.

Companies really shouldnt; just 'collapse' like this - the Directors can always see it coming.

Also: Have a look around you. Pick up anything of value you can sell and go and put it in your car boot. I'm not joking either. When the receivers come in, they'll have everything that's not nailed down

Unless you prefer dismissal for theft then possible prosecution to being made redundant I would recommend against that.

Happened to me a couple of years ago, sounds about right. We got redundancy too. That was administration though, don't know what the difference is

Companies really shouldnt; just 'collapse' like this - the Directors can always see it coming.

Just because they can see it coming doesn't always mean they can do anything about it.

5AM - the quick answer:

Yes the insolvency service (government) will pay (1) unpaid wages (2) notice pay (3) untaken holidays (4) redundancy pay. UP TO a statutory limit (which isn't that high).

The liquidator will provide the paperwork and confirm the exact date of liquidation. As far as I recall ordinary employees weren't required to provide the contract; so long as the details you provided and the liquidator provided matched they paid up.

If it is genuinely liquidation not administration the liquidator will usually want you gone ASAP. If he needs expertise in identifying, selling, dismantling stock or making equipment safe etc he should continue to pay you (note he will be paying you not the government). If it is administration he may pay you to keep the business going, in that case I don't think the insolvency service will pay you until something happens one way or the other.

Pick up anything of value you can sell and go and put it in your car boot. I'm not joking either.

I've only ever had real experience of a liquidator once; he spent more time looking for something like this that he could "nail" someone for than he did on winding up the business. If there is something which you think has value then by all means make him an offer, but don't walk out with it. It will only take one of your colleagues to get a fit of conscience (or jealousy) to find yourself in a lot of bother.

Companies really shouldnt; just 'collapse' like this - the Directors can always see it coming.

not sure I agree, firstly would you rather they tried to get themselves out of a bad situation and kept employing people for six months, or just chucked the towel in and said - its too hard? Even if they did, that doesn't guarantee there would be enough cash in the bank for wages. Secondly - sometimes it is totally unexpected (or at least uncontrolled) event that triggers it - a supplier or customer goes bust; an overdraft gets called in; a large on-going contract suddenly stops; foreseeable yes - avoidable not always. Of course how well they can cope with these issues depends on if they were in great shape in the boom, or just muddling along.

The time of year is utterly crap to be honest, but no point in dwelling on it as I can't do anything about that. Shame it wasn't early summer as I could have taken a couple of months out and got some decent riding in.

The director did know it was probably coming and had warned me; but as the UK branch is a subsidiary of an international operation the decision wasn't solely his, and I think he had been trying his best to prevent it.

I'm not about to start stealing stuff that is no good to me and put myself in to a compromising position, but I may try and take a couple of items with me if they won't be missed and will be of use.

Guess I will just have to spend the weekend hoping that Monday may bring some more definitive answers.

Poly thanks for your post, some really good info there.

And everyone else of course 🙂

a liquidator will terminate your employment 1st thing mon am an administrator may not.
liquidators lock doors and sell stuff adminisrtators try to find a buyer for the whole lot / manage an orderly closure

you should nt lose money a contarct verbal or otherwise is good enough as long as both parties agree

dont worry about it what happens on monday will happen and you will have little or no impact on that. spend the weekend clarifying your finacil position and preparing to find work

Rubbish news, but some sound advice already.

Good luck OP, try to enjoy your weekend!