Published
Sep 14, 2020
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Arcadia reverses furlough pay-linked redundancy terms

Published
Sep 14, 2020

Topshop owner Arcadia has reversed its controversial decision to link the redundancy pay of some staff to the lower salary levels they received while on furlough.


Photo: Sandra Halliday


The plan had attracted heavy criticism from a wide variety of sources with claims that it would mean a number of people being axed from its head office would only get half of their notice pay. The Unite union had threatened legal action.

The group has now apologised, saying it’s “extremely sorry” and that all affected employees would get full pay.

Large numbers of businesses have accessed the government’s furlough scheme to pay a percentage of their workers’ salaries while they’re not working. And with the lockdown seeing most retail stores having to close, the retail sector has been a major beneficiary of the scheme. But retail remains in crisis and Arcadia is now cutting 300 jobs at its HQ.

At the weekend, it said: “We recently implemented a policy for those employees who are working their notice on furlough to receive their furlough pay instead of their full pay. We got this decision wrong and the board has today amended this policy to ensure all affected employees will receive their full pay. We are extremely sorry to all those individuals for the distress that we have caused and apologise unreservedly.”

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