RNLI to Furlough 1/3 of its Paid Staff

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"After [April] it plans to make sure that furloughed staff receive 80% of their salaries, where that is higher than the government’s monthly cap. "

So all the highly paid staff will get 80% of their monthly salary topped up from cash reserves (donations), but lower paid will only get up to max £2500 per month as paid by the government. Isn't there a whiff of the elite not sharing the pain ?

And the CEO is taking a 50% pay cut.....

"
Mark brings with him significant corporate leadership experience having been a senior commercial and investment banking professional who was most recently Chief Executive Officer, Corporate and Institutional Bank at Standard Chartered Bank. In this role he led the bank’s global wholesale banking business and was responsible for nearly 20,000 people in 62 countries around the world.
He has a very wide range of experience in international business management including strategic, financial and organisational change, governmental advice, and small business investment and ownership.
Mark is also a former naval officer"

He really won't notice the difference.
 
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"And the CEO is taking a 50% pay cut...." .

...............no bleating about how NHS will lose out a la the premier league footballers ! a piece of PR genius worthy of Max Clifford ?
 
Oh good, another oppurtunity for some more good old RNLI bashing!

But hang on, what else were they to do? The government has made money available to furlough staff who would otherwise be laid off completely. If boatbuilding and rebuilding the boathouses are impossible (social distancing) and the lifeguards aren't needed (beaches are closed), then these people are exactly the sort of people that should be furloughed. Obviously most summer lifeguards haven't been emplyed yet for the summer (they're all still in Australia) but at least the trainers and more senior people will still be available to be recalled when the lockdown is lifted, even if it will take a little time to recruit and train the seasonal life guards.

If the RNLI hadn't furloughed people, they would have been accused of wasting donations on paying people to sit around and do nothing. By making sure everyone gets 80% of their salary it makes it completely fair and equitable whatever paygrade they're on. The government's scheme with a £2500 limit makes it much harder for people on higher earnings who have quite reasonably have got higher outgoings. And the CEO has taken a 50% cut.

So let's get stuck in - bastard RNLI do the right thing and act fairly! Burn the witches - I bet they use their lifeboats to spread the virus! I saw one coxswain with a 5G phone!
 
Motor_Sailor said:
Oh good, another oppurtunity for some more good old RNLI bashing!

But hang on, what else were they to do? The government has made money available to furlough staff who would otherwise be laid off completely. If boatbuilding and rebuilding the boathouses are impossible (social distancing) and the lifeguards aren't needed (beaches are closed), then these people are exactly the sort of people that should be furloughed. Obviously most summer lifeguards haven't been emplyed yet for the summer (they're all still in Australia) but at least the trainers and more senior people will still be available to be recalled when the lockdown is lifted, even if it will take a little time to recruit and train the seasonal life guards.

If the RNLI hadn't furloughed people, they would have been accused of wasting donations on paying people to sit around and do nothing. By making sure everyone gets 80% of their salary it makes it completely fair and equitable whatever paygrade they're on. The government's scheme with a £2500 limit makes it much harder for people on higher earnings who have quite reasonably have got higher outgoings. And the CEO has taken a 50% cut.

So let's get stuck in - bastard RNLI do the right thing and act fairly! Burn the witches - I bet they use their lifeboats to spread the virus! I saw one coxswain with a 5G phone!
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[staff receive 80% of their salaries, where that is higher than the government’s monthly cap. "]

This reads that those at the top will lose nothing at all, 80% salary + top-up from reserves
 
Old Harry said:
[staff receive 80% of their salaries, where that is higher than the government’s monthly cap. "]
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No all staff will recieve 80% of their salary with the RNLI topping it up where people's 80% is more than the £2500 provided by the government.

Lot's of companies are going this. We're doing 100% as is Timpsons the shoe people and I think even Tesco.
 
Motor_Sailor said:
Except in this case it isn't and never was.
Click to expand...

This was more of a general observation not specifically aimed at the RNLI, although it does look as if there is a smidgeon of truth in that direction. Unfortunately I do think that there is a big question mark over the way that the RNLI is being managed at the moment but that is an entirely different thread.
 
Praxinoscope said:
Unfortunately I do think that there is a big question mark over the way that the RNLI is being managed at the moment but that is an entirely different thread.
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To an extent, but many view the RNLI as having misstepped in its response to the small overseas aid programme it initiated. Noble in intention, there were concerns about whether for example their efforts might legitimize discrimination against young girls. Instead of addressing this tricky question, the RNLI responded by demonising the objectors through a largely false representation of their concerns. It went on to justify the ensuing bifurcation of its traditional funding base on the basis that record new donations were coming in. All under the watch of a new PR Director and new CEO.

Now we see another governance misstep, which sits badly with the prevailing zeitgeist. Nobody denies that the furloughing of the lifeguard section is warranted, yet the high level of protected salaries paid to senior execs will no doubt cause more subs to be cancelled.

The venerable RNLI is not the first or only institution to face such problems. Yet cloth ears which break the first rule of good corporate governance and they won't help it now.
 
oldgit said:
"And the CEO is taking a 50% pay cut...." .

...............no bleating about how NHS will lose out a la the premier league footballers ! a piece of PR genius worthy of Max Clifford ?
Click to expand...
I'm hoping that the clubs will reply with the offer of a 50% cut and a £600m direct donation to the NHS.
 
Motor_Sailor said:
No all staff will recieve 80% of their salary with the RNLI topping it up where people's 80% is more than the £2500 provided by the government.
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No sign that any of the top paid management staff are being furloughed: "The furloughed employees will include trainers, workers who usually build new boats and support staff."
 
dom said:
. . . yet the high level of protected salaries paid to senior execs will no doubt cause more subs to be cancelled.
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What high level of protected salary? Everyone furloughed is going to get 80% of their salary, except the CEO who is going to get 50%.

You can only furlough people for which there is no work, in this case the people already employed in connection with the summer Lifeguards intake , the boat shed reconstruction staff and the boatbuilders.
 
Motor_Sailor said:
What high level of protected salary? Everyone furloughed is going to get 80% of their salary, except the CEO who is going to get 50%.

You can only furlough people for which there is no work, in this case the people already employed in connection with the summer Lifeguards intake , the boat shed reconstruction staff and the boatbuilders.
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No it only 80% of basic up to £2500
 
Motor_Sailor said:
What high level of protected salary? Everyone furloughed is going to get 80% of their salary, except the CEO who is going to get 50%.

You can only furlough people for which there is no work, in this case the people already employed in connection with the summer Lifeguards intake , the boat shed reconstruction staff and the boatbuilders.
Click to expand...

According to the RNLI, "We will be topping up all those on furlough to full pay during April and then in May, to 80% pay if that is above the £2,500 cap set by the government."

So what I mean is, aside from the CEO, there is no cap on the 80% salary protection level with the difference between £2,500 and their monthly salary continuing to be paid by donors. This remains so, even though a large part of their activities has been shut down.

RNLI Chief Executive takes 50% pay cut and plans to put 30% of staff on furlough | RNLI
 
Old Harry said:
No it only 80% of basic up to £2500
Click to expand...

No it's not. During April everyone will get 100% of their salary if furloughed and 80% there after. For those who earn less than £2500 per month, this wil all come from the government. For those whose 80% of their salary comes to more than £2500, the differnce will come from the RNLI. So everyone in April will get their full pay and there after everyone will get 80%.

The so called 'high flyers' which generate the ire of most people probably aren't being furloughed at all because their functions are still needed: The lifeboat stations are still operational, the fund raising is still important, etc.

I am not an avid fan of every aspect of the RNLI, but in this instance I can not see one thing they could reasonably have done different. They would always get knocked by the naysayers - but if they had done the 'gold plate employers' option of guarenteeing everyone 100% of their salary, there would have been an outcry over 'wasting donations' as well. Damned if they did, damned if they didn't.
 
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