Richard Hartley, chief operating officer of S4labour, the online labour-scheduling management system from Catton Hospitality, has suggested operators should consider holiday for furloughed staff – potentially saving the industry a £4bn bill “it can ill-afford”. Hartley said: “The total cost of holiday to the industry is likely to be in the region of £5bn for furloughed hospitality staff up to the end of July. The government has confirmed you are able to request staff take holiday during the furlough period but employees need to be paid their full wage for time they are on holiday. While there is an immediate cash flow challenge to this, and no one has much spare at the moment, there is the advantage the furlough scheme will pay for 80% of this, or a proportion for higher earners. This potentially saves the industry a £4bn bill it can ill-afford.” Hartley also pointed out the scheme could further support the refresher training “needed for a workforce that hasn’t been active for more than four months” as well as for the numerous new measures that will need to be in place before reopening. Hartley said: “Employees are able to train while on furlough, as long as they are being paid the relevant National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage, effectively meaning government will support the wage bill to get our teams trained to where they need to be.”

S4labour is a Propel BeatTheVirus campaign member

The government has confirmed staff on furlough continue to accrue holiday in line with their contract. This can be varied if agreed with the employee but not below the statutory 5.6 weeks. It has also been confirmed staff can take holiday while on furlough, although this would be paid at the employee’s normal rate, meaning employers will have to pay the top-up over the government grant amount.

S4labour chief product officer Richard Hartley said: “Employers can request and restrict when their employees take holiday meaning there will be a careful balance between short-term cash flow and the longer term issue of a burdening holiday accrual. The government has stated it is keeping its policy on holiday under review. S4labour will release the ability to put employees on holiday while furloughed and calculate the top-up amounts within the next week.”

S4labour is a PropelBeatThe Virus campaign member

Propel has launched BeatTheVirus to help operators through the covid-19 crisis. We have teamed up with Propel Multi Club conference series partners to offer the sector their expertise. Partners will offer more general advice and highlight some of the initiatives they are doing. Bibendum and Startleare the latest companies to come on board and join Airship, Bibendum, Bums on Seats, CACI, Christie & Co, COREcruitment, CPL Learning, Cynergy Bank, Elliotts, Hastee, haysmacintyre, John Gaunt & Partners, KAM Media, Prestige Purchasing, S4labour, Startle, Ten Kites, The NPD Group, Toggle, Trail, Venners, Wireless Social, Yapster and sector trade bodyUKHospitality.

Propel managing director Paul Charity said: “It is amazing to see how the industry has come together during this crisis and here at Propel we want to do our bit. This is why we are working with Multi Club partners to offer expert support and advice to our readers and to answer their questions at what is a tough time for everyone.”

Readers can email questions for our experts to paul.charity@propelinfo.com. Please use BeatTheVirus in the subject line. A selection of questions and answers can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.

Last year we spoke to Brian Hannon from Super 8 restaurants about how he uses S4labour to run his three amazing restaurants…

During March, S4labour will be at multiple events, showcasing the system and speaking to existing and future customers. We would love to catch up with you and show you what’s new.

We will be manning stands on various dates, if you are attending one of the following, click on the image and book a slot for a chat.