A worker at Marks & Spencer (M&S) who “blew the whistle” on the high street giant’s plans to slash redundancy terms for more than 60,000 staff has been suspended and faces a disciplinary hearing.

The Times revealed last week that M&S plans to cut redundancy pay by up to 25 per cent as part of proposals that have triggered a fierce backlash among staff, who fear a widespread round of job cuts.

The GMB today said that an employee, who has worked at the retailer for 25 years, had been suspended.

He will be represented by the union at the disciplinary hearing next Monday - the day the new redundancy terms are due to come into force.

A spokeswoman for M&S said: “This is an internal matter and we are not commenting any further.”

The GMB said it feared the company was preparing to make job cuts because of the changes to redundancy pay.

Maria Ludkin, the GMB's legal affairs officer, said: "I hope Marks & Spencer will realise they have over-reacted. They are being very hard-nosed about the whole thing and acting as though he's responsible for stealing the Colonel's secret recipe. He's only aired widely-held views and concerns about the changes being proposed.

"It's a clear case of bullying. M&S has always been based on its staff. It would be a shame to see that change."

M&S, which issued a shock profits warning in July, has insisted that the new redundancy terms will still be more generous than those offered by most of its rivals on the high street.

The group is consulting with staff representatives on its Business Involvement Group over the move, which would limit the maximum payouts from 70 weeks to 52 weeks.

A memo seen by The Times shows that a typical 49-year-old employee with 30 years of service would see their possible pay-off fall from £35,000 to £26,000.

Those aged over 41 would get three weeks pay per year worked instead of the current 3.75, while staff aged between 22 and 40 would receive two weeks instead of 2.5.

The Business Involvement Group has warned the M&S board that the proposed changes had caused “an unprecedented level of concern and anger”.

The GMB union contrasted the proposed changes with the £500,000 handed to Steven Esom, M&S's former director of food, who left in July.

Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary, said: ""We are fearful that job cuts are on the way at M&S. Why else would they cut their existing policy if they did not intend to use it?

"Why do people at the bottom get the sack on the cheap while the top bosses get large payouts even when they leave having messed up?"

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