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Endemol Shine Group has become one of the first major independent production groups in the UK to set out plans to furlough or cut the pay of employees after coronavirus ripped through the TV business.
Endemol Shine — which owns labels including Tiger Aspect and is in the process of being acquired by Banijay Group — is holding talks with its 370 staff in the UK about their future over the coming months.
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Employees will either be furloughed onto the government job retention scheme, or have their salary cut by up to 30% over three months. The pay cuts are on a sliding scale, so senior managers will shoulder the biggest wage reductions.
Those workers who are furloughed will have their pay topped up if their salary falls below 50% of what they would usually earn. The government scheme pays 80% of wages up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
The changes come into effect on April 13 and will be reviewed at the end of May. People with business-critical roles are expected to remain in post, while Endemol Shine development teams are still working.
An Endemol Shine spokeswoman said: “Our priority in navigating these difficult times is to keep all our staff employed and these temporary and progressive measures, shared across the UK group, will enable us to do this.
“Our focus for the next few months will be to make the very best shows we can still produce while accelerating new ideas from across our expansive development slate.”
Endemol Shine is comprised of nearly 20 labels and makes shows including Peak Blinders. Like all producers, its production slate has been decimated by coronavirus, but Zeppotron is still making its BBC Two topical comedy show The Mash Report — albeit in a lockdown environment.
Elsewhere, the Discovery and Liberty Global-owned production group All3Media is also furloughing staff. A spokesman said: “In common with many other businesses, our companies are taking the difficult decision to furlough a number of employees with the clear aim to be ready to scale back up again as soon as possible when the current restrictions are relaxed and productions are able to resume.
“This is a uniquely challenging situation and we would like to thank everyone for their understanding and professionalism. We look forward to the teams coming back together when this unprecedented situation comes to an end.”
News of the Endemol Shine coronavirus strategy was first reported by Broadcast.
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