Skint agency workers got no furlough
AGENCY workers whose jobs dried up in the pandemic are making a last-ditch demand for financial support after waiting months without money or clear answers.
Thousands of employees fear they have been left at the “mercy” of firms who failed to secure emergency furlough pay months after the economy ground to a halt.
With a deadline for new applications looming today, staff worry how they can make ends meet in a crisis.
The fears for agency staff come as the UK Government revealed nine million jobs have been furloughed under the state scheme, which pays 80 per cent of wages for people unable to work.
The Record spoke to workers in a range of jobs who have been left in limbo. They all came together with campaign group Better Than Zero, which supports temporary and zero-hours contract staff as agency jobs become more prominent.
Fallon Powell’s place on a two-year scheme with British Airways as a junior mechanic was organised by an agency who dealt with the contracts. But she said BA ended the post at Glasgow Airport because of the pandemic. Her agency, Shorterm, then terminated the contract.
Fallon, 22, of Stewarton in Ayrshire, said: “We were told we were being stood down. But BA have washed their hands of us and we can’t get full information about what’s happening.”
Tyler Downs, of Mauchline, Ayrshire, was also on the BA scheme. He worked with excolleagues to try get answers but has been left with a bewildering paper trail and no furlough. He said: “I feel forgotten about. People know we’re struggling but we can’t get help.”
He said a legal firm had been hired by Shorterm and HMRC were being blamed for failing to give clear assurances that furlough support would be watertight.
The Record attempted to contact Shorterm but could not get a response.
Agency staff offshore and in council-run contracts are also missing out. Stan Dring, 56, of Cumnock, was working on the Barony Campus in Ayrshire. But he said the council used an agency – Connect Site Services – which was owned by a parent firm that outsourced payroll. He said: “We were caught in the middle and I’ve had to sign on to Jobseekers’ Allowance.
Connect Appointments said the agency had furloughed 400 direct staff but blamed a separate payroll firm for failing to secure furlough for contractors.
Better Than Zero said: “Thousands of workers are at the mercy of agencies, payroll firms and employers who have failed to furlough them.”