Construction business Laing O'Rourke 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, Laing O'Rourke, which furloughed 1,000 employees in April 2020, has seen the majority of its sites reopen with good levels of financial performance.
Employees who received 20%-30% pay cuts and reduced hours are set to return to full pay and working hours by August. The organisation has also confirmed that no employees are currently facing redundancy.
A spokeswoman at Laing O'Rourke said: “We are very thankful for the support the government is providing to the construction sector, but with 92% of our staff now active, we are focused on restoring full productivity and will not be accessing the new grant announced by the Chancellor.”
