Press Report : JLR workers asked to accept delayed wages

Jon Griffin, Birmingham Post, 1st July, 2009

Staff at Jaguar Land Rover have been asked to agree to delayed salary payments until the end of the month “to ease cash-flow problems”, it has been claimed. A report in Works Management magazine said that bosses had written to employees asking them to accept a delayed payment date for salaries from this month.

The request is understood to have been sent by email to salaried staff earlier this week. The message was accompanied by an offer of a £200 one-off payment to all staff who agree to the revised payment date. Rather than the usual JLR pay day of the 15th of the month, the company wants to push payments to the end of the month to ease cash-flow, the report said.

It is understood that JLR recently negotiated extended payment terms with its suppliers, moving them from 45-day to 60-day terms but the 15-day extension now means that supplier payments will clash with salaries.

The report quoted JLR spokesman Don Hume as confirming the news, adding that the organisation needed to “realign its pay structure.” He said that the move would be phased, with salaries paid one week later in July and moving to the end of the month from August.

The report quoted JLR spokesman Don Hume as confirming the news, adding that the organisation needed to “realign its pay structure.” He said that the move would be phased, with salaries paid one week later in July and moving to the end of the month from August.

Last week parent group Tata Motors reported that JLR had piled up losses of £281 million for the 10 months to March 2009 and senior Tata executive Ravi Kant warned that JLR could face more job losses and “plant shutdowns” amidst the continuing losses. However, Unite UK car industry official Dave Osborne urged JLR to avoid further job cuts on top of the 2,000 already lost in recent months.

JLR is still thrashing out terms for Government financial aid announced back in January by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown now pledging his support in direct talks with Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata.

JLR spokesman Don Hume could not be contacted to elaborate further on the delayed pay offer and how many employees had been e-mailed.

[Source: Birmingham Post]

Clive Goldthorp

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