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The expansion of the government’s employment support scheme will put about a million roles at risk and is like throwing entire sections of the economy into “junk,” the Labor Party said.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband also said that fewer than one in 15 closed-business jobs will benefit from the movement.
Miliband added that workers in sectors such as weddings, cinemas and events and conferences, which are not “legally closed” but have been forced to “lock themselves in everything but name”, will not enjoy the protection of the program.
The government has announced that employees will not work for more than seven consecutive days because their workplace was legally required to close due to local or national restrictions and they will receive two-thirds of their covered wages, up to £ 2,100 per month.
The plan will be in effect for six months starting November 1.
Labor said there was a “massive hole in the new safety net” because companies “shut down everything but the name” due to restrictions, they employed hundreds of thousands of workers in sports clubs, events and conferences, cinemas, the sports industry. weddings and live. music venues and theaters.
The opposition party said reduced capacity, less trade and strict public health measures mean that many companies will be severely restricted and essentially closed without reaching the threshold of being “legally bound” to shut down, as will many suppliers facing a indirect hit.
Miliband said ministers should “urgently rethink their damaging sink-or-swim approach that sends entire sectors of our economy to scrap.”
He said: “The government has been forced to escalate on the principle of supporting the closure of” unviable “businesses and jobs.
“But there are huge holes in the new safety net.
“Businesses that include weddings, theaters, cinemas, events, and many vendors will still be left out of a technicality.
“They are not legally closed, but they have been forced to close in everything but name.”
Labor said that of more than a million jobs in severely restricted sectors, just over 73,000 people, those working in nightclubs or in theater and live music in Scotland and Wales, would benefit from the extension, equivalent to less than one in 15 jobs.
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A Treasury spokesman said: “We do not recognize these figures.
“The expanded work support scheme is designed to support jobs where companies are legally obliged to close, so the number of people who benefit from this scheme will obviously depend on the trajectory of the virus and the restrictions we must implement.
“Also, this incorrectly lists some sectors that will not benefit from the scheme when they will.
“It is also incorrect to suggest that those who are not fully closed will not get any help. Businesses that are open can use the other element of the employment support scheme which is aimed at those who can open but with lower levels of demand.
“And of course they can also access the other help we have made available, including billions of pounds in grants, loans and tax cuts.”
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The government intends that employees of business conferences, exhibition centers and sports stadiums that cannot reopen be covered by the expanded scheme, and it is understood that more details will be released soon.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the scheme should include a training element so that workers can “develop their skills and prepare for the future,” adding that it should be “aimed at the sectors most affected by the viruses, and that will be fundamental to support our economic recovery, not just those that have closed. This virus is having a much broader impact. “
He told the Cooperative Party’s online conference on Saturday that retraining schemes for workers should be implemented immediately, and said that “the vast majority of what the government has announced on training does not go into effect until next April.”
The Oxford East Labor and Cooperative MP continued: “Overall, all government measures taken together to support people who have become unemployed will only help one in five who the government itself expects will be left without. I’m working for the end of this year. “
