Kier Group returns furloughed staff to work without claiming job retention bonus

Kier Group decides against using government job retention bonus

UK construction organisation Kier Group is foregoing a £1,000 payment per employee under the government’s job retention bonus scheme for bringing back furloughed employees.

In the July 2020 mini-Budget, the government introduced a bonus scheme, rewarding UK businesses with the payment if employees returning to work remain within the business through to the end of January 2021. However Kier Group, which furloughed employees in April 2020, has seen the majority of its sites reopen with good levels of financial performance.

Additionally, 6,500 employees who saw their pay cut between 7.5%-25% in March 2020, will return to full pay at the end of July 2020.

A spokesperson at Kier Group, said: “Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, we have taken a number of decisive actions to enable Kier Group to operate as efficiently as possible. We welcome the measures announced by the government to assist UK businesses, but we will not be accessing support through the jobs retention bonus scheme as the majority of our sites are now open and operating in-line with government guidance and to new site operating procedures.”