Energy Suppliers E.ON and Npower furlough staff as Coronavirus pandemic continues to bite

The scheme allows a business to furlough employees and apply for a grant that will cover 80% of their usual monthly wages, up to £2,500 per month. The scheme is temporary and is in place for 3 months. However, with uncertainty growing as to when the current lockdown measures will end companies will likely pressure to extend the scheme if the lockdown needs to be extended. 

All employers are eligible to claim under the scheme including energy suppliers due to the variety of ways the lockdown is impacting them. A business can only claim for furloughed employees that were on the payroll on or before 28 February 2020. Employees hired after that date cannot be furloughed, leaving many who switched jobs during that period in limbo. 

The bulk of staff affected at E.ON include customer operations and support staff as well as metering technicians. Around 1,000 of Npower’s 5,500 staff are also being furloughed.

“We have around 3,000 colleagues currently on furlough arrangements from our total UK workforce of around 7,500 full-time employees. We are making sure no one loses out if they are off work in a furlough situation by guaranteeing a top-up to 100 per cent of salaries,” said an E.on spokesman.

Other energy supply companies have also taken the steps to furlough some of its staff with OVO energy announcing that it had furloughed a third of its workforce.