Bilfinger UK Limited which employs around total 230 made the decision for all non-essential employees who cannot work from home, including those who may have been recently made redundant, and also including those on fixed term contracts. The Grangemouth based company provides a range of energy maintenance services including at the INEOS oil refinery and on the Forties Pipeline System at Kinneil. In addition, Veolia which assists business with waste, water and energy management has also agreed to furlough their ‘non-essential’ employees who cannot work from home on 100% pay.

Unite regional industrial officer, Scott Foley, said: “We warmly welcome the decision by Bilfinger and Veolia to furlough employees and not to make the totally unnecessary decision to make their non-essential workforce redundant. Both these Grangemouth based firms have taken a lead in how workers should be treated during this pandemic. The financial pain that could have been inflicted on the workers if they had been made redundant instead of being furloughed doesn’t bear thinking about. We want to thank both firms for engaging positively with Unite in order to find a solution that helps both the workers and the company.”