Bectu contacts Treasury for urgent discussion on latest Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme update

Bectu has contacted Treasury officials to raise serious concerns about the latest update to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and its parent union, Prospect, has written to the Chancellor urging for the guidance to be changed.

The guidance was updated on Friday 17 April to include advice that contradicts previous information.

It now states that fixed-term contract PAYE freelancers cannot be re-engaged and furloughed once their contract has naturally come to an end even if they were on a contract during the relevant dates of the scheme.

It means:

• freelancers whose contracts expired before 19 March could not have been furloughed as there was no JRS at that time
• lots of freelancers with contracts expiring late March to now will not have been furloughed because there was no clear guidance and they are now unable to be furloughed
• the latest guidance simply doesn’t recognise the reality of daily/weekly contracts.

Bectu members were previously asking employers to furlough them on the basis of guidance issued on 4 April which explicitly stated employers could agree to re-employ someone, extend the contract and place them on furlough if they had stopped working for them.

The creative industries are an extremely important source of GVA growth for the UK, contributing £100bn of inward investment to the economy and growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. Film and TV contribute £2bn GVA alone.

 Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said:

“This U-turn is a devastating blow to PAYE freelancers across the creative industries.

“With reports suggesting that over half of freelancers are considering leaving the film and TV industry the latest iteration of the JRS guidance will only exacerbate that situation.

“If we see a mass exodus from the industry because of a lack of financial support during the pandemic the UK will loses it’s international competitive edge when production starts again.

“Many Bectu members felt they had been offered a life line with the previous update that was published on 4 April. Now, they are being told that is not the case. This news emerged late on the Friday night before the Job Retention Scheme portal opens with no explanation for why the decision has been taken.

“The Treasury must engage with us to understand the implications of this latest update and to take on board the solutions that we’ve proposed to make sure that freelancers in the creative industries receive vital financial support and don’t fall between the gaps of the JRS and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.

“Members are contacting us desperate to find out why this has happened. They deserve better than this and we are calling on the whole industry to come together to highlight the damage that this will do to the creative industries and the economy.”