Water companies in the UK have said they have “no intention” of furloughing staff under the government’s job retention scheme.
People working in the water and wastewater industry have been designated as key workers during the coronavirus outbreak and able to continue essential work.
Yorkshire, United Utilities, Severn Trent, South West Water, Anglian, Thames, Northumbrian, Wessex, Scottish Water and Welsh Water have all declared they will not furlough staff.
Affinity Water also told Utility Week it has not furloughed staff and all teams are working hard to maintain services for customers including switching hundreds of staff to remote working.
Portsmouth Water said it had to furlough a small number of non-frontline staff in an effort to maintain financial stability. It will also suspend dividends to owners, defer salary and bonuses for senior executives and cover loss of salary for employees who are furloughed. The company said staff and trade unions “strongly supported” the move.
The sector has responded rapidly to reorganise working practices to adhere to social isolation guidance and paused non-essential works including home visits except in emergency situations.
The move has seen thousands of customer support teams moved to home working.
Essential maintenance and repair work on the water and sewerage networks has continued. Thames Water told Utility Week the company has cut back on tasks aside from vital “water on, water off” works.
Postponing non-essential works will likely affect contract workers and employees in the supply chain. In a blog post Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher encouraged companies to support the supply chain wherever possible.