Northern Ireland

Coronavirus: Fermanagh and Omagh council furloughs 200 staff

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Fermanagh and Omagh District Council

MORE than 200 staff at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council have been furloughed due to financial pressures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The council said a "significant reduction" in revenue streams from arts, tourism and leisure services has affected its ability to pay employee wages.

It comes as Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council delayed its furloughing bid to consider whether to top-up the reduced wages of affected staff.

The council intends to furlough personnel across five departments.

It is considering if they should receive only the 80 per cent of their wages or whether the council will fund the gap to provide their full normal pay packets.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) aims to prevent redundancies by allowing employers to apply for a government grant to cover 80 per cent of the wages for staff who are placed on temporary leave, or 'furloughed'.

After some confusion among local authorities, Stormont communities minister Deirdre Hargey this week confirmed that councils can apply to furlough non-essential workers under the UK-wide scheme.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council yesterday confirmed it was furloughing just over 200 staff following the confirmation on the eligibility of local authorities.

Councillor Siobhán Currie, chair of the council, said: "We are grateful to the staff and trade union representatives who have worked with the council to implement the process.

"It was important that furloughed staff would not be affected financially nor would it impact on their terms and conditions of employment."

Ms Currie added: "As has been widely reported, there is a very significant financial burden on councils as a result of Covid-19, particularly in the context of loss of income from closed centres and facilities.

"The income from funding received under the job retention scheme will help to mitigate the loss of income."

Antrim and Newtownabbey council's application is being delayed to consider whether furloughed staff should receive 80 per cent or 100 per cent of their wages.

The next council meeting is scheduled for May 26, but a special meeting could be convened if councillors do not reach a consensus beforehand.

A council spokeswoman said in a statement: "A decision in relation to the temporary furlough leave proposal will be made by the council in due course.

"The next scheduled meeting of the council will take place on Tuesday May 26 2020.

"In the meantime, the council's application to the government's job retention scheme has been deferred."

Last week, Antrim and Newtownabbey council announced proposals to make 73 staff redundant.

A decision on 46 of the jobs has been deferred, but the remaining 27 agency workers are still being laid off.

The council said it has asked agencies to furlough them.