G Adventures’ U-turn over furloughed staff
G Adventures has enrolled seven UK-based staff made redundant due to the Covid-19 crisis on the Government’s Job Retention Scheme after TravelMole highlighted their plight.
The tour operator had initially refused to rehire and then furlough the staff members who were made redundant on March 17, two days before the Job Retention Scheme was announced.
The employees said they made repeated requests to G Adventures to take advantage of the scheme, which covers 80% of employees wages up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, but it refused to rehire them.
However, the company has since backtracked and enrolled them on the scheme until the end of June.
In a statement, G Adventures said: "As a Job Retention Scheme, there was limited guidance at the time on if the furlough scheme could be utilised by individuals whose role would continue to be redundant following the crisis.
"Today, we have spoken with all seven individuals in the UK and have advised that we are able to offer them access to the furlough scheme up to the end of June, as stated by the Government.
"We hope that the scheme will offer some security and stability to them over the coming months. We hold ourselves accountable to our core values and remain committed to doing the right thing."
One of the seven employees expressed relief at G Adventures’ decision, saying: "It’s disappointing that they had to be pushed into it, but I am incredibly relieved the company U-turned on its original decision. They haven’t offered any explanation or apology, but I hope they’ve learnt a bit about how to treat people."
Kuoni has also taken advantage of the furlough scheme to rehire staff who were previously made redundant before it was announced.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has said the Job Retention Scheme could be extended until the end of July if necessary.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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