EY giving back with bonuses for coronavirus pay cuts
EY will top up the pay of staff whose remuneration was cut as part of measures introduced during the pandemic lockdown.
EY said on Thursday it would top up the pay of staff whose remuneration was cut as part of measures introduced during the pandemic lockdown, with the business tipping in a 1 per cent COVID-19 Recognition Bonus.
The outcome for staff who had their FY20 pay reduced by 3.3 per cent would be they instead would only suffer a 2.3 per cent cut. Staff have also been given an extra two days leave.
The bonus, announced by EY Oceania chief executive Tony Johnson on Thursday came after the 6000-strong EY workforce had their pay and hours cut by 20 per cent for three months earlier this year.
EY staff who took reduced hours and pay for the three months will be returned to 100 per cent pay and hours on 3 August.
“We feel this bespoke approach is the best way to go for us – we definitely did not think it fair or appropriate to apply an across the board pay cut and ask people to work the same hours but be paid less,” said Mr Johnson.
The big four consultancies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 economic shutdown, with EY the only major consultancy not to announce job cuts.
On Monday, Deloitte announced it would shed 700 staff from its 10,000-strong workforce.
PwC announced on 17 June it would cut 400 staff from its 8000 workers.
KPMG announced on Tuesday that it would repay one-third of the COVID-19-inflicted salary cuts made on staff in May and June after a better than expected revenue performance by the business, and forecast revenue growth of up to 8 per cent in 2020.
Chief executive Gary Wingrove reassured the firm’s 9000 staff at a briefing on Tuesday afternoon that there would be no more forced redundancies after the big four accounting giant cut 200 staff in early April.
It had asked employees to temporarily take a 20 per cent cut in monthly salary (from May until August), and partners an effective pay reduction of up to 36 per cent for the same period.
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