Liverpool place some non-playing staff on furlough

Greenisland Bear

Well-Known Member
As per BBC:

Liverpool are the latest Premier League club to place some of their non-playing staff on temporary leave.

On Friday it was announced the league would be suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Those staff will be paid 100% of their salaries to ensure no member of staff is financially disadvantaged," a statement from the league leaders said.

Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich have also said they would furlough non-playing staff.

The Liverpool statement added: "Even prior to the decision on staff furloughing, there was a collective commitment at senior levels of the club - on and off the pitch - with everyone working towards a solution that secures jobs for employees of the club during this unprecedented crisis.

"There is ongoing active engagement about the topic of salary deductions during the period matches are not being played to schedule. These discussions are complex and as a result the process is ongoing."

More to follow.

 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.
 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.

Anyone with an ounce of fibre in their being would let a certain % slide. Andros Townsend whinging in the news yesterday about the Government.

Maybe if you didn't piss half of it away on gambling you microphone looking cunt, you wouldn't be complaining.
 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.
Its not just morally wrong, its an absolute disgrace. Liverpool always banging on about "family " and have more money than most.
 
Are liverpool paying the 100% wages though?
It doesn't state that they are going to use the Government money to fund them?
 
Danny Rose also `moaning his back`s up against the wall` while apparently `not having a problem giving up a %age`
 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.

The players are taking a 30% cut I believe but I agree it is wrong that the European champions and a club that has tended to get most things right recently under Klopp is going down this route.

I think clubs are bracing themselves for reduced payments from sponsors and broadcasters and will all have the begging bowl out soon enough I imagine.

The amount of money sloshing about the English game this sort of thing shouldn't be needed but we all know that it's a money grab by all involved.
 
It is an absolute no-brainer from a business perspective. Any decision not to utilise the job retention scheme would be purely ideological.

The Liverpool board, like any other business, exists to make profit for its shareholders and simply cannot justify a loss based on a vague sense of injustice. If the scheme is available to football clubs, then there is no question that the rest of uk football will take the government up on their offer. It is the pragmatic thing to do.
 
Are liverpool paying the 100% wages though?
It doesn't state that they are going to use the Government money to fund them?
'Premier League leaders Liverpool are the latest top-flight club to place some non-playing staff on temporary leave.

Staff affected will receive 80% of their salary through the government's job retention scheme and the club will make up the difference.'
 
You think that clubs with hundreds of millions in turnover should be doing this to Average Joe in the ticket office yet Mohamed Salah and co are still picking up their 200k a week escape scot free?....

And yet they are claiming the tax payer for the privilege?.....

An absolute disgrace is what it is.

You said the system was being abused, I was wondering how you thought it was being abused.
 
You think that clubs with hundreds of millions in turnover should be doing this to Average Joe in the ticket office yet Mohamed Salah and co are still picking up their 200k a week escape scot free?....

And yet they are claiming the tax payer for the privilege?.....

An absolute disgrace is what it is.
The vast majority of a footballer’s career is spent at the training ground or in the gym; they are paid just as much for this as they are for the 90 minutes on a Saturday when they play an opponent. Despite the lockdown, footballers remain tied to strict diet and training regimens and while there is certainly an argument to be made that this is not of the same standard or level of intensity as it would usually be, it would be unfair to suggest that they are no longer working.
 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.
This is what I would hope rangers do if they too need to do something and give the part players wage to every other non playing staff member, which seems inevitable in the current climate .
 
Are liverpool paying the 100% wages though?
It doesn't state that they are going to use the Government money to fund them?

From the Liverpool Echo:

And they have now confirmed further action has been taken with around a half of the club's staff being furloughed under the government furlough scheme. They will receive 80% of their wage from the government - up to a maximum of £2,500 per month - with Liverpool topping up the rest.

Cash-rich clubs shouldn't be able to use this scheme imo.
 
This is what happens when legislation is poorly drafted and it is the people who drafted it who should be getting criticised not those "taking advantage" of it
I think they should have been looking to create a fund to pay for it by introducing a super tax on the very highly paid (not just footballers)
Relying on people accepting voluntary cuts is messy and unfair
 
It is an absolute no-brainer from a business perspective. Any decision not to utilise the job retention scheme would be purely ideological.

The Liverpool board, like any other business, exists to make profit for its shareholders and simply cannot justify a loss based on a vague sense of injustice. If the scheme is available to football clubs, then there is no question that the rest of uk football will take the government up on their offer. It is the pragmatic thing to do.

Got to disagree. It is abuse of a scheme which has been put in place to save jobs. Hope they lose more in regard to the damage to their brand/reputation than they legally “steal” from the taxpayer. Does not sit well with me at all.
 
Are they?

Who can claim

You must have:

  • created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 28 February 2020
  • enrolled for PAYE online - this can take up to 10 days
  • a UK bank account
Any entity with a UK payroll can apply, including businesses, charities, recruitment agencies and public authorities.
 
The Govt have to and i think they will tighten this up.
They just need HMRC to ask for company accounts to show they have no other means of keeping the business going...like means testing for companies.
 
Who can claim

You must have:

  • created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 28 February 2020
  • enrolled for PAYE online - this can take up to 10 days
  • a UK bank account
Any entity with a UK payroll can apply, including businesses, charities, recruitment agencies and public authorities.

I asked if those sectors you mentioned had made claims? Seeing as you were trying to make some grandstanding point or something.
 
I think to a certain extent some of us are missing the point of the scheme. It isn't there to subside rich clubs it's there to meet the wages of people that otherwise would be paid off and get nothing.

Liverpool could fund it but they don't need the people affected and likely won't for some time so could just as easily have let them go and they would need to claim universal credit instead. Plus they are actually topping it up to the full amount.
 
I asked if those sectors you mentioned had made claims? Seeing as you were trying to make some grandstanding point or something.

I wasn't trying to make any grandstanding point.

Just wondering why people thought that "cash rich" football clubs were different to any other "cash rich business"
 
Got to disagree. It is abuse of a scheme which has been put in place to save jobs. Hope they lose more in regard to the damage to their brand/reputation than they legally “steal” from the taxpayer. Does not sit well with me at all.
Liverpool have faithfully paid their taxes on income and profits. They support the national interests in doing so. If any company is entitled to apply for grants then why not,there are loads of companies worth far more money than Liverpool who are, rightly, taking advantage of this Government scheme during these unprecedented times when their income has ground to a halt and the economy is inevitably going to crash.
 
Anyone with an ounce of fibre in their being would let a certain % slide. Andros Townsend whinging in the news yesterday about the Government.

Maybe if you didn't piss half of it away on gambling you microphone looking cunt, you wouldn't be complaining.
Brilliant. :))
 
I think to a certain extent some of us are missing the point of the scheme. It isn't there to subside rich clubs it's there to meet the wages of people that otherwise would be paid off and get nothing.

Liverpool could fund it but they don't need the people affected and likely won't for some time so could just as easily have let them go and they would need to claim universal credit instead. Plus they are actually topping it up to the full amount.

There are three main points.

1, Save lives by making it easier for people to socially distance but still have an income.

2, Save businesses by them not having to pay all of the wages of people who couldn't actually work for them.

3, Save jobs, by people no being layed off, and by the job being there when the person is allowed to go back to work.
 
I hope we come to some arrangement with the players taking the hit to avoid this, it’s embarrassing.
 
Sickening. I left my previous employer on the 28th of February, started with my new employer on the 2nd of March.
My current employer isn't allowed to furlough me because you have to be on the books by the 28th of February, so theyve now made me redundant. Ive been punished for moving jobs at the wrong time, even though I was a tax payer on the dates in question. I also don't qualify for universal credits. Now billionaire football club owners are using it when they clearly don't need to.
 
I know these players have no obligation to help anyone out just because they have more money but they have a cheek to praise the NHS when they know that even a slight wage cut could cover the salaries of a great number of the club staff thus saving taxpayer money that could be funneled into...the NHS! Shocker I know
 
Liverpool have faithfully paid their taxes on income and profits. They support the national interests in doing so. If any company is entitled to apply for grants then why not,there are loads of companies worth far more money than Liverpool who are, rightly, taking advantage of this Government scheme during these unprecedented times when their income has ground to a halt and the economy is inevitably going to crash.


Agree with the reference to “taking advantage “ but not with “rightly”. We will just have to disagree on this one fellow bear.
 
There are three main points.

1, Save lives by making it easier for people to socially distance but still have an income.

2, Save businesses by them not having to pay all of the wages of people who couldn't actually work for them.

3, Save jobs, by people no being layed off, and by the job being there when the person is allowed to go back to work.
So would you rather they were just let go and got nothing as it's obvious that they aren't needed?
 
Another club who love to be moral crusaders but who lose their moral compass when it suits them.
Nonsense. They are well within there rights to place staff on furlough leave as per Government guidelines. I don’t see you moaning at massive organisations throughout the UK doing exactly the same.

Don’t forget that Jordan Henderson and James Milner are the ones who are setting up a Premier league coronavirus fund which will raise millions of pounds for the NHS. The players also donated £40k for food banks when the season was put on hold too. Nobody seems to be interested in the good work players and clubs do throughout the communities on a weekly basis because it doesn’t suit there agenda.
 
So would you rather they were just let go and got nothing as it's obvious that they aren't needed?

I have absolutely no idea how you got that from the post you quoted or from anything else I said.

I think furloughing was an excellent initiative, for the reason I stated.
 
I have absolutely no idea how you got that from the post you quoted or from anything else I said.

I think furloughing was an excellent initiative, for the reason I stated.
I know, and I agree with you. It was just a method of showing the alternative to those who don't agree and there are plenty who see it as a rich club ripping off the government instead of ordinary people getting a wage instead of potentially nothing as not everyone will qualify for UC.
 
This is what happens when legislation is poorly drafted and it is the people who drafted it who should be getting criticised not those "taking advantage" of it
I think they should have been looking to create a fund to pay for it by introducing a super tax on the very highly paid (not just footballers)
Relying on people accepting voluntary cuts is messy and unfair
There’s no legislation mate. I don’t think there will be any legislation. This is just a government scheme/initiative. It’s all guidance and I’m willing to give the government and HMRC a free pass. I work in a professional services firm and this is by far the most important government initiative of my lifetime. Partners I work with who are nearing retirement say the same. It’s all any of my clients want to talk about. The government and HMRC have broke their backs to put this thing in place in such a short timeframe. We should all give them a big pat on the back.

The guidance says the scheme is for employers whose operations have been “severely affected” by covid. Severely affected isn’t defined so it comes down to a a moral/ethical judgement of the employer as to whether to make a claim.

If a football club is claiming 80% of non playing staff salaries under the JRS whilst also paying hundreds of thousands a week to playing staff, their leadership are missing some moral fibre. The government are now, in effect, subsidising exorbitant wages of footballers.

It’s completely wrong.
 
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Nonsense. They are well within there rights to place staff on furlough leave as per Government guidelines. I don’t see you moaning at massive organisations throughout the UK doing exactly the same.

Don’t forget that Jordan Henderson and James Milner are the ones who are setting up a Premier league coronavirus fund which will raise millions of pounds for the NHS. The players also donated £40k for food banks when the season was put on hold too. Nobody seems to be interested in the good work players and clubs do throughout the communities on a weekly basis because it doesn’t suit there agenda.

So the players chucked some of their pocket change in a fund. That’s a nice gesture, but guess what, their club are still taking advantage (I use the term ‘taking advantage’ in the most sleekit sense) of a government scheme whilst deciding to continue paying their playing staff eye watering salaries. A scheme devised to help average joes and more modest businesses (relative to the likes of organisations like Liverpool who generate obscene amounts of cash) stay afloat in the meantime. And when I say more modest businesses I don’t mean small independent businesses, i mean businesses that generate a lot of money, just not money on the scale of what football’s super powers generate, which are sums that could probably eradicate half of the world’s problems.

Of course you would be fine with it though. The club and it’s players have always shat rainbows in your world :D

Bingo and no one even bats an eyelid when they do it.

If anyone posted up examples of the above types of organisation doing similar whilst paying multi-million pound contracts out to a large number of their employees they’d get similar criticism. Liverpool are getting it in the neck because the it’s a football forum, they’re a football team, they very much operate in the spotlight and the thread is about them.
 
I think this is morally wrong, it's great that those people are employed on a full salary but for clubs to be taking advantage of a Governemtn scheme while continuing to pay players hundreds of thousands per week doesn't sit well with me.

Knock 20% off their disgusting salaries and that should cover the non playing staff easily without Government grants.

An utter disgrace. Poor old Liverpool, probably only make £100m profit this year now! They should be embarrassed to use the Governments money given how much they get from TV Revenue and the Champions League.
 
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