Employees at the company's subsidiaries BGP and Stones voted overwhelmingly in favour of a 13.5% pay cut in a ballot that concluded last Friday.

They will now be offered a new contract, which would come into force on 1 April 2012, and the company has said that anyone not accepting it would have their employment terminated.

Martin Edwards, employment lawyer at legal firm Weightmans, told PrintWeek: "If you terminate employment unilaterally, that is a dismissal, so the employee has the right to claim unfair dismissal. It is up to the tribunal to decide if the company handled the case fairly.

"The union may also decide to go to tribunal over a failure to consult with a recognised trade union. From what I can tell, it is unclear whether they were recognised. This would lead to them seeking a protective award for all employees covered by the union who were asked to take a paycut.

"In this situation, the favourite is the company that has followed the correct procedure or the employee that has been poorly treated. It remains to be seen which this is."

Unite claimed that the ballot was illegal as it was not carried out by a recognised independent union and has said that it will pursue the company through the court if it goes ahead with the cuts.

Goodhead Group proposed the paycut at the beginning of the year, claiming it was the only way the company could continue as a self-supporting entity.