British Gas owner Centrica to axe 5,000 jobs due to coronavirus crisis
BRITISH Gas will cut 5,000 jobs partly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s owner Centrica said the cuts would be made under restructuring plans to make the business “less bureaucratic”. Around half of the current 40 strong senior leadership team will leave the company by the end of August as Centrica […]
BRITISH Gas will cut 5,000 jobs partly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The company’s owner Centrica said the cuts would be made under restructuring plans to make the business “less bureaucratic”.
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Around half of the current 40 strong senior leadership team will leave the company by the end of August as Centrica look to get rid of three management layers.
To save costs, the energy provider will axe 5,000 jobs in total – over half of which affect those who currently work in management.
The business is still currently consulting with staff on the proposals but it expects the job losses to happen in the second half of 2020.
Centrica’s chief executive Chris O’Shea said that the coronavirus crisis has helped bosses identify where changes need to be made within the already struggling company.
What are my redundancy rights?
BEFORE making you unemployed, your employer should still carry out a fair redundancy process.
You are entitled to be consulted on the redundancy lay-off first and to receive a statutory redundancy payment, as long as you’ve been working somewhere for at least two years.
How much you’re entitled to depends on your age and length of service, although this is capped at 20 years. You’ll get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22,
- One week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older, but under 41,
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older.
Sadly, you won’t be entitled to a payout if you’ve been working for your employer for fewer than two years.
There should be a period of collective consultation as well as time for individual ones if your employer wants to make 20 or more employees redundant within 90 days or each other.
You are also entitled to appeal the decision by claiming unfair dismissal within three months of being let go.
He said: “We’ve learnt through the crisis that we can be agile and responsive in the most difficult conditions and put our customers at the heart of our decision making.
“However, I believe that our complex business model hinders the delivery of our strategy and inhibits the relentless focus I want to give to our customers.”
Mr O’Shea joined the firm three months ago to help turn around parts of the business that were already struggling.
In 2018, it announced plans to axe 4,000 jobs over two years, with the latest round slashed last year as 700 British Gas staff were put out of work.
At the time, it blamed the energy price cap and “fierce” competition.
Centrica is also consulting on changing staff contracts “to simplify terms and conditions for employees in the UK”.
It says that there are over 80 different variations of employee contracts, some of which haven’t been updated for 35 years and as a result, need to be “modernised”.
Mr O’Shea added: “We have great people, strong brands that are trusted by millions and leading market positions, but the harsh reality is that we have lost over half of our earnings in recent years.
“Now we must bring focus by modernising and simplifying the way we do business.”
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Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted there will be “many job losses” due to the pandemic as businesses suffer significant losses during lockdown.
A “significant” number of the nine million employees currently enrolled on the furlough scheme are being warned they could be made redundant in the coming days.
The scheme has closed to new applicants from today and from August, bosses will have to start contributing to workers’ pay.