Swedish ferry organisation Stena Line will furlough 600 employees on full pay, due to the ongoing Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
Announced on 6 April 2020, the organisation confirmed that it had to make tough decisions to cut costs and ensure supply lined to UK and Ireland are protected.
Stena Line confirmed that all employees on furlough will receive 80% of their salaries, however where UK and Irish government schemes don’t cover the full amount, the remainder will be paid by the employer.
The government’s furlough Covid-19 (Coronavirus) job retention scheme allows furloughed employees to receive 80% of their salary, capped at £2,500.
The announcement of furlough relates to both UK and Ireland shored-based and sea-based employees. This includes employees working on vessels on the Irish Sea and North Sea. A number of sailings on several routes have also been taken out of service due to the large decline in demand during the pandemic.
Ian Hampton, director at Stena Line said: “The Coronavirus crisis has meant that Stena Line is experiencing a significant decline in passenger and freight volumes across all of its 20 European routes. We are having to make some very difficult decisions, that we hoped we would never have to make.”
“In order to secure the continuity of our freight operations, we have no choice but to reduce our costs. We are committed to keep vital supply lines open for UK and Ireland.
“Regrettably, we must furlough employees on temporary paid leave and make redundancies, as we adjust to this new reality. We will do everything in our means to ensure essential supply lines stay operational during what is a very difficult time for the company and the countries that we serve.”