Transport organisation Kuehne and Nagel will ensure that 13,000 employees receive in a minimum of 90% of their pay during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
Following talks with trade union Unite, the organisation confirmed that employees who earn £20,000 or below will receive full pay while furloughed, and employees who earn under £30,000 will receive 90% of their salary.
Under the government’s job retention scheme, employees who are furloughed will receive 80% of their wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Kuehne and Nagel will also top up the wages of employees earning between £30,000 and £40,000, using a sliding scale; on average, employees in this bracket will receive 86% of their wages.
Additionally, employees have the option to move on to food delivery contracts to avoid being furloughed and retain their full pay packet.
Joe Clarke, national officer for food, drink and agriculture at Unite, said: “This is an excellent deal for our members at Kuehne and Nagel and indeed for all of the employees.
“Kuehne and Nagel staff, while still facing some wage reductions, can rest assure that they will be able to afford to pay their bills and feed their families during the lockdown.
“For those who still want to work and earn 100% of their wages, the employer is offering them the opportunity to move onto contracts that are still operational.
“Over the past two weeks, Unite has worked closely with Kuehne and Nagel to get this furlough deal through. Other organisations should take the lead from Kuehne and Nagel and make sure their employees are equally well looked after during this crisis.”
Kuehne and Nagel was unavailable to comment at the time of publication.