12,000 staff on ‘pay delay’ scheme at Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce’s 12,000 staff are returning to work with a package of new working conditions.

The employees will take a 10% “pay delay” for the year from April 2020, which will be paid back in the year starting April 2021.

Meanwhile, for the next three weeks, workers who are not required will be furloughed on full pay under the government’s job retention scheme which guarantees 80% of pay, with the company paying the other 20%. Talks are on-ongoing with unions as to what happens after the end of the month.

Rolls-Royce closed production at Derby last week, but is opening up gradually this week, under the new safety regime, and up to 60 per cent of the workforce could be employed on a rotation shift system.

Unite union regional secretary for the East Midlands Paresh Patel said: “Rolls-Royce is the jewel in the East Midlands manufacturing crown and we need to secure the future of the aerospace sector within the regional economy and beyond. We have also to safeguard the supply chain, employing thousands of workers, which is heavily reliant on Rolls Royce.
“Unite continues to make the case to government of the importance of the UK’s manufacturing base and the need to protect firms and their workforces at this exceptionally difficult time for the economy.”