Workers ‘still waiting for furlough pay’
AGENCY STAFF NOT BEEN PAID IN 10 WEEKS
SCORES of agency workers at Derby’s Bombardier site say they have received no wages since being put on paid leave.
One worker said some colleagues have been left ‘in dire straits’ having not collected any money since being put on the Government’s job retention scheme at the end of March.
SCORES of agency workers at Derby’s Bombardier site say they have been paid no wages since being furloughed.
Workers contracted at the Litchurch Lane trainmaker were sent home at the end of March and told they would be put on the Government’s job retention scheme.
However, nine weeks later, scores of staff, who are paid fortnightly, claim they have still not received any cash for the time they have spent out of work.
One worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said more than 100 people had received no payments and this was causing serious problems.
He said: “We have been kept in the dark. I’ve spoken to multiple people and no-one is any the wiser.
“It just seems to be taking very long. There are people in dire straits – there are all sorts of bills to pay. It’s causing a lot of financial hardship.”
He said agency staff were now gradually returning to work but they had still not received payment for the weeks they were forced to spend at home.
Shorterm, which contracts the affected workers, said it had not yet made the furlough payments because it was not clear that the workers were entitled to them.
It said it had concerns that workers whose contracts were terminated by clients may not be covered by the job retention scheme – and if it makes an incorrect payment it may have to pay back a large amount of money to the Government at a later date.
It said it had brought in a specialist adviser to help get answers from HM Revenue and Customs.
A spokesman said: “We believe that this inaction by HMRC is grossly unfair to temporary workers as it has left them without an income for two months
– not knowing if they qualify for the JRS or if they should seek to obtain Universal Credit or other social welfare support.
“We have great sympathy for the plight of our temporary workers and are doing our utmost to resolve this situation with HMRC.” A spokesman for HMRC said it could not comment on individual cases but said it had made payments for around eight million furloughed jobs. He said: “Employers can claim for employees on any type of employment contract, including fulltime, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.
We don’t mind waiting for three or four weeks but now it’s been nine weeks and we haven’t had any updates.
Worker
“Where agency workers are paid through PAYE, they are eligible to be furloughed and receive support through this scheme, including where they are employed by umbrella companies.“
The anonymous worker said attempts to find out more about the situation from managers and senior staff had proved fruitless.
He said: “People I’ve spoken to are all very angry because we’re frustrated. As of right now I’ve had no update on what’s happening. It just seems to be going on for very long.
“Everybody I speak to is in the dark. People are saying we are going to get stiffed here. We don’t mind waiting for three or four weeks but now it’s been nine weeks and we haven’t had any updates.”