Belfast software organisation Kainos is repaying the government for any furlough payments it has received during the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
In April 2020, the organisation made use of the Government Job Retention Scheme (GJRS) by placing 131 of its 1,700 employees on furlough, who have all now returned to full-time work. Following a strong trading period, Kainos has decided to withdraw its employees from the scheme and return any support payments. Additionally, the organisation has made no redundancies or pay cuts during this period.
Since April 2020 the government has paid 80% of employees' wages, capped at £2,500. Employers will need to start paying national insurance and pension contributions, representing 5% of employment costs, from 1 August 2020 until the scheme ends in October 2020.A spokesperson at Kainos said: "We recognise that the strong business performance during this period has been a result of the hard work and flexibility of our people, and the support and trust of our customers. We would like to take this opportunity to, once again, thank our people and our customers for their ongoing engagement."During the early stages of Covid-19 (Coronavirus), we successfully adapted to the changing business environment and we remain confident that we will be able to respond to any future challenges in the wider macro-economic backdrop."However, we maintain our view that it is too early to predict the duration or the severity of the Coronavirus economic disruption and any impact it will have on our customers."
