Coronavirus: Queen's University Belfast to furlough up to 200 staff

There are about 4,000 staff at QUB

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is to furlough up to 200 staff.

BBC News NI understands that about 5% of QUB's 4,000 members of staff will be placed on the government-funded coronavirus scheme.

Employees who work in commercial areas like events, conferences, sports and catering are among those affected.

However, the university said it would ensure all the furloughed staff would continue to receive their normal monthly salary.

The university closed its campus and many of its facilities in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allows employers to temporarily lay off staff while the government pays 80% of their wages and has been extended until October.

In a statement the university said that some services had been reduced or temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdown measures in place.

"Queen's University has adapted its operations to continue to deliver education, research and key services during the pandemic in a way that protects the safety and wellbeing of staff and students," it said.

"However, some services cannot be provided in accordance with the current social distancing measures.

"Therefore, the university has decided to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and temporarily furlough staff who are responsible for these services and meet the criteria of the scheme.

"This will only apply to a limited number of staff in a small number of areas."

On Tuesday Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the furlough scheme until October

In a separate email to staff, the university registrar Joanne Clague said those affected would not lose out financially.

"Currently, we have taken the decision to pay all our furloughed employees on their normal monthly salary, including National Insurance, tax contributions and, for members, pension contributions - an approach which goes significantly above the capped limit and 80% contribution offered by the government," she said.

"It is important to emphasise that the decision to furlough a post is not in any way related to the value placed on it by the university.

"These are exceptional times and roles identified for furlough are generally those which cannot be carried out remotely, or where, for other reasons related to Covid-19, there has been a substantial reduction in work."

Some other universities in the UK have also said they are placing staff on the furlough scheme.

The Vice-Chancellors of both Queen's and Ulster universities have previously warned that they face multi-million pound losses due to disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.