Coronavirus job retention scheme
Some of the key details of the Government’s major new coronavirus job retention scheme, announced on Friday 20 March, have been questioned by leading engineering services trade body ECA.
ECA’s Director of Employment and Skills Andrew Eldred said: “The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme surely represents one of the most extraordinary products of these times. An effective 80 per cent state subsidy for wages in the private sector, in a previously liberal free-market economy. However, ECA believes that a more flexible approach needs to be designed into the scheme from the start. First, employers should be given the option to share work more equitably between their employees. In addition, employers and their employees should be free to agree other reduced hours working arrangements, whilst still enjoying the security offered by the Government’s 80 per cent pay guarantee.”
ECA believes that sharing work more equitably between employees could be achieved by them moving between working and ‘furloughed’ status according to a structured pattern – for example, one week ‘on’, followed by one week ‘off’. Arrangements of this sort are quite common for ‘furloughs’ in the USA, and there are similar arrangements for short-time working arrangements in the UK.
Secondly, ECA believes employers and their employees should be free to agree other reduced hours working arrangements, whilst still enjoying the security offered by the Government’s 80 per cent pay guarantee. This extra flexibility should help encourage businesses to continue servicing customers – for example by carrying urgent or safety-critical work – without putting their own survival and the economic security of their employees at risk.
More widely, ECA expressed some concern about the possible impact the new scheme might have on those who continue to be employed and working, compared to colleagues who would not be required to work.
The Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme is open to all companies regardless of size. They can apply to HMRC for a maximum of £2,500 per ‘furloughed’ worker per month, worth 80 per cent of their wages, with a grant paid direct to the business.
Other measures announced by the Government on Friday to support businesses included an extension of the business interruption loan scheme to 12 months, and the ability to defer VAT bills until the end of the year.
ECA has a freely available coronavirus industry hub, with an array of updates and guidance, available at http://www.eca.co.uk/coronavirus.
This article was originally published by ECA as ‘Coronavirus job retention scheme requires greater flexibility’ on 23 March 2020.
--ECA
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Beyond the pandemic.
- Budget 2020.
- Budget 2021.
- CIOB reacts to 2020 Winter Economy Plan.
- Coronavirus.
- Coronavirus and force majeure.
- Coronavirus impact survey.
- Designing HVAC to resist harmful pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria and viruses such as influenza and 2019-nCov).
- ECA articles.
- Furlough.
- Hospital isolation rooms.
- Re-starting construction in a COVID-19 environment.
- Social distancing compliance marshal.
- Survey records business projections after coronavirus storm.
- The future of the coronavirus furlough.
Featured articles and news
The benefits of writing articles for your organisation
How to create a profile for your organisation and publish for free.
No Falls Week. The importance of safe working at height
What to expect and what is on offer to avoid accidents.
Scottish Government action to reach net-zero targets
Retrofit expert group highlight critical actions needed.
A forward thinking, inclusive global community of members.
From engineered product life-spans, to their extension.
Circular economy in the built environment
A brief description from 2021. Where are we now?
Mental Health Awareness Week with ABS
Architects Benevolent Society programme of activity.
CLC publishes domestic retrofit competency framework
Roadmap of Skills for net zero.
May 13-19: Moving more for our mental health.
Understanding is key to conservation.
Open industry engagement survey seeks responses
Institutions and the importance of engagement.
National Retrofit Hub unveils new guide
Digital Building Logbooks and Retrofit: An Introduction.
Enhancing construction site reporting efficiency
Through digitisation and the digital revolution.
Noise in the built environment
BSRIA guide TG 20/2021.
17,000 people suffer conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work.
Turning down the noise: Auditory health
A pervasive risk with far-reaching consequences.
Getting the most out of heat pumps and heating
How heat pumps work and how they work best.
Electrotechnical excellence, now open for entries.