Covid: Uncertainty as Industries Lose Job Support

Image copyright
fake images

Industries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic are facing greater uncertainty after not receiving help in the chancellor’s new emergency work plan.

Hospitality, event and retail workers and businesses expressed concern, as did those on zero-hour contracts.

Rishi Sunak said that employees must have “viable” jobs to benefit from the pay increase scheme.

This means that people who work in industries that are currently closed, such as nightclubs, may lose out as there is no work.

Sunak said he hoped the new plan, announced Thursday, “would benefit a large number,” but warned that the government “cannot save all jobs.”

The Work Support Program will replace the leave and will last for six months, starting in November.

Under the scheme, if bosses bring in part-time workers, the government will help them raise their wages with employers to at least three-quarters of their full-time wages.

But only staff who can work at least a third of their normal hours will be eligible for the program.

The plan to try to stop the mass layoffs was announced after the government introduced more measures to address the rise in coronavirus cases.

On Thursday, drinkers in England and Wales faced the first night of earlier closing times for hospitality venues. Similar measures will be introduced in Scotland later on Friday.

It came as the government announced that the UK had recorded 6,634 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily figure since mass testing began. Another 40 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus.

Image copyright
EPA

‘Frightening’

While many in affected industries welcome the government’s effort to save jobs and an extension of the VAT cut, they feel that increased restrictions on the virus will slow the recovery and prevent them from making enough money to stay afloat and take advantage of the measures. of the government. .

Lisa organizes events at a hotel and has been discharged, along with her partner. She was hoping to get back to her part-time job in October, if companies started booking Christmas parties.

However, he worries that the 10 p.m. curfew, announced earlier this week, for pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues will ruin any Christmas business.

She is not sure if her employer will bring her back under this new scheme.

“It is concerning for anyone who works in events. I have worked in hospitality since I was 16 years old, but now it is scary,” he told the BBC.

Lisa’s concerns are reflected throughout the hospitality and live events industry.

“There’s just no job to go back to, the demand is running out in line with social distancing measures,” said Peter Heath, managing director of the Sound and Lighting Professional Association.

“As a result, most companies in our industry will not be able to generate enough revenue to support their contribution to employee salaries, nor will they be able to hire the huge community of freelancers on which the events industry has become so dependent. . “

Image copyright
fake images

Nightclubs, in particular, are aggrieved by the idea that aid only goes to businesses deemed “viable.”

They have been closed since the end of March and they say it is unfair that they should be punished because they have been obeying government regulations.

“The situation is simple: because we are closed, none of the Work Support Plan extensions help us,” said Peter Marks, head of the Deltic group, which runs 53 nightclubs in the UK and employs 4,000 people.

“We have been forced to enter the place described as ‘unviable business’ just because the government has closed us down.”

Most of the group’s staff are still on leave. He said they may need to consider laying off staff.

• How will I be paid in the job support program?
• Will the chancellor’s plan to save jobs work?

Mr. Sunak has defended his decision to restrict the Work Support Program to employees who work at least one-third of their normal hours.

He told MPs that the government had to make sure that support was directed where it could make a difference and towards jobs that provided the long-term security perspective.

But Michael Kill, who heads the Night Industries Association, has asked the government to reconsider its plans.

“The government’s opening statement made it very clear that it is not possible to save all companies, all jobs,” he said.

“While we appreciate the veracity of this, completely exiling the entire night sector is simply unacceptable.

“The simple message for the government is that more direct support is needed.”

How will the job support plan work?

• Under the scheme, the government will subsidize pay for employees who work less than normal hours due to lower demand.
• It will apply to staff who can work at least one third of their usual hours.
• Employers will pay staff for the hours they work
• For the hours that employees are unable to work, the government and employer will each cover one-third of lost wages.
• The grant will be capped at £ 697.92 per month
• All small and medium-sized businesses will be eligible for the program.
• Larger companies will be eligible if their turnover has decreased during the crisis.
• It will be open to employers across the UK, even if they have not previously used the license scheme.
• The plan will run for six months starting in November.

That specific call for support for companies and organizations that cannot open their doors has been echoed in UK cinemas, where the vast majority of venues and productions remain closed.

Meanwhile, Sacha Lord and Amy Lamé, who are the “night czars” of Manchester and London respectively, have criticized Sunak for not doing enough to help their sector.

Meanwhile, the head of clothing firm Next told the BBC that hundreds of thousands of traditional retail jobs may not survive in the wake of the pandemic.

While welcoming the new scheme, Lord Wolfson said there was still a clear threat to thousands of jobs, which are now “unviable” because the closure has brought about a permanent shift to online shopping.

‘Forgotten group’

The self-employed will continue to receive support under the measures announced Thursday, but the chancellor did not specifically mention those with zero-hour contracts.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Samantha Pearmain worked front-of-house and front-of-house chores at a busy conference center near Cambridge.

She had a zero hour contract and was suspended between March and the end of July.

The company he worked for paid him 80% of his salary in August, as a gesture of goodwill, but now he has no income.

She said she was hopeful that the chancellor’s announcement Thursday would include some provision for people like her.

“I feel like we are the forgotten group of people,” he said.

“I really want to know what the government is doing with people like me.”

The Treasury confirmed that it was up to employers to decide whether they wanted to change their zero-hour worker contracts to make them eligible for the scheme, but there was nothing in the measures to prevent them from doing so.

Samantha is looking for work, but she worries that there will be an “explosion of unemployment”.

The measures announced Thursday were designed to prevent that from happening when the licensing scheme ends in late October.

The City and Guilds Group, which helps people gain the skills to land jobs and develop their careers, said any effort to support employers and save jobs was welcome in the current climate, but the chancellor’s actions they were only a small part of the employment puzzle.

“Government interventions should be less about the here and now, and more of a permanent solution to provide meaningful long-term support to stop unemployment,” a spokesman said.

“Unless we tackle the problem of unemployment with a more sustainable solution and help people train and recover throughout their careers, we run the risk of a whole generation of people being left behind permanently.”

• COVID-19 IN WINTER: What will be the effect on the SARs-CoV-2 virus?
• COVID-19 VACCINE CLAIMS: Five False Theories Debunked