WORKERS who were left jobless and without redundancy pay have won a six-figure payout from a Bolton charity.

Seven of the nine workers, who were supporting adults with addiction issues, took their case to an employment tribunal after being supported by their trade union Unison. One of the remaining two workers, who also won their case, was represented by the Royal College of Nursing and the other by themselves.

The seven were awarded almost £178,000 in compensation after their case against Arch Initiatives.

Arch Initiatives was brought in following a restructuring of the service by Bolton Council and after it tendered for and won a contract in 2012 to oversee the management of addiction treatment patients.

Unison took on the case against Arch after it refused to take on the staff when their jobs were transferred from Greater Manchester West NHS Foundation trust (GMW).

Arch Initiatives claimed the employees’ contract was solely for managing addiction treatment patients, but the substance misuse workers’ roles and duties went beyond this. Therefore, the company said it was not responsible for them.

But the employment tribunal ruled that Arch acted unfairly in dismissing the seven who were left out of work and with no redundancy pay.

Denise Holcroft, 41, was among those staff who lost their jobs. She had worked for GMW for more than three years but was forced to take lower paid work elsewhere and on fewer hours until she found a full-time role.

She was awarded more than £29,000 reflecting her loss of pay and pension benefits and said: “There’s never a good time to be told you’re out of a job, but this was so stressful. I couldn’t pay my bills and had to take what work I could just to cover my mortgage.”

Unison North West spokesman for health Amy Barringer said: “It’s daunting for staff being transferred to a new employer, and utterly destabilising for them when the process is handled incorrectly.

“Arch Initiatives refused to play by the rules, but Unison ensured it was held accountable and staff were compensated. We’ll continue to challenge bosses who ignore the law. ”

No figure for the level of compensation paid to the the worker represented by the RCNM and to the worker who acted on their own behalf was made available to The Bolton News.

We were unable to make contact with Arch Initiatives did not comment.