As a result of the unique situation we find ourselves in due to Coronavirus, we know you will have some questions about what this means for you. Please find below some FAQs that we have put together that comprises of five areas, UK Collective Consultation, Government Support Schemes, Welfare and People Policies, Travel and Equipment, and Tools.
UK Collective Consultation
What is a collective consultation?
The collective consultation is a process whereby the business proposes changes and gives employees a chance to offer alternative solutions, and give their feedback and views on the proposed changes. This approach ensures that everyone has an opportunity to have their voice heard.
In line with UK legislation, the collective consultation period will last 45 consecutive calendar days.
Why will we be entering into a collection consultation?
Covid-19 is having a huge impact on our business and whilst keeping people safe and well is our number one priority, we also have to protect our business and, where possible, minimise our outgoings. We therefore will be proposing some changes, which require consultation.
What is the timeline for the collective consultation?
8 June – collective consultation period commences
w/c 8 June- 1st collective consultation meeting with employee reps
w/c 15 June – 2nd collective consultation meeting with employee reps
w/c 29 June – 3rd collective consultation meeting with employee reps
w/c 13 July – 4th formal consultation meeting with employee reps, as required
23 July – end of collective consultation period
How do I nominate myself or someone else to be an employee representative?
To nominate yourself or someone else to be an employee representative, please send an email to Lucy Davis, Lucy.Davis@carnivalshipbuilding.com no later than 8pm (UK time) on 1 June 2020.
Where should I direct any questions that I might have during the consultation period?
If you have any queries during the consultation period, you can direct these to Lucy Davis (Lucy.Davis@carnivalshipbuilding.com). Alternatively, if you have something you would like to be discussed at the consultation meetings, you should go via your Employee Representative once they have been elected and announced.
How will I know who my Elected Employee Representative is?
You will receive an email advising the details of all the Elected Employee Representatives. We will also publish the Elected Employee Representative names on the Insider, once the ballot has taken place (if necessary).
Government Support Schemes
Furlough (UK)
What is the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme?
The UK Government Job Retention Scheme is a temporary scheme announced by the UK Government to support people who maybe financially impacted by the COVID-19 period. The UK Government will be paying 80% up to £2,500 per month of peoples salaries who are put on Furlough i.e. roles are temporarily paused.
While on Furlough, am I still employed by Carnival UK and do I still accrue continued employment?
Yes. Your normal terms and conditions of employment remain the same with the exception that you are not required to work on Furlough.
What is my return to work date/how long will I be on Furlough for?
The Furlough period is a minimum of three weeks and we anticipate you returning at the end of May, unless you are contacted and asked to return sooner, or your letter states otherwise. In these circumstances we would give you a minimum of 48 hours’ notice. The exact dates on Furlough will be in your Furlough letter.
Can I be put on Furlough for a short period of time e.g. a couple of weeks and then be re-employed? You must be on Furlough for a minimum of three weeks for us as the employer to be eligible to claim under the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme. Your letter will detail the exact return to work date and if you are required back to work prior to that your line manager will be in contact with you and will aim to give you a minimum of 48 hours’ notice.
If the UK Government extends the scheme for longer than three months, will I remain on Furlough for longer?
Yes, this is a possibility. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and business demands change we will need to be open to different work patterns and encourage flexibility to help everyone to stay safe and well. We encourage you to keep talking to your line manager and in the meantime please see the Temporary changes to Workplace policies and procedure and these frequently asked questions
What happens at the end of my Furlough period?
You should return to work following the last day of your Furlough period. Depending on Corporate Shipbuilding’s operating position and the continuation of the UK Government’s Job Retention Scheme your Furlough period may be extended.
Why have I been put forward for Furlough, but other members of my team haven’t?
We know that the operational pause of all Carnival Corporation’s brands has left some people with lighter workloads. People have been put on Furlough based on their workload and what they are working on, as well as what work needs to be done over the next few weeks.
How will being on Furlough affect my end of year rating?
Being on Furlough will not affect your end of year rating. Your performance rating will be based on your performance during your time at work and will reflect the whole year providing you have been in employment with Corporate Shipbuilding (Carnival UK) since December 2019.
I have annual leave booked during the Furlough period – do I get to keep this?
Yes absolutely. This will automatically be cancelled for you by the Shore Admin team who will also change your absence in myHR portal to reflect you being on Furlough.
All annual leave carried over from 2019 and any outstanding TOIL must be spent by 30 June 2020, and we’re requesting further that through the period 1 January 2020 – 30 June 2020, everyone has taken at least 10 days’ 2020 annual leave.
In a time when our business operation is slowing down, it makes sense that we take time out. The UK’s current lockdown status and internationally enforced travel restrictions mean people are tempted to defer annual leave but it’s important people take time to rest and recover – we’ll need everyone fighting fit for when operations restart and shipyards re-open. For people who are on Furlough, they will be asked to take their leave when they return in June. There may be particular teams or individuals who will struggle to take this amount of leave, due to the operational demands upon them during this period. Everyone’s wellbeing is paramount so we should wherever possible encourage them to take time out. In exceptional cases where that’s just not possible, other arrangements may be agreed.
How does this affect my holiday entitlement?
You will continue to accrue annual leave while you are on Furlough.
How does this affect my Carnival UK pension?
Carnival UK will continue to pay any regular pension contributions on your behalf and your employee contributions will continue to be deducted where relevant.
How can I keep in touch whilst on Furlough?
It’s important to remember people on Furlough still remain very much part of our team and this is a temporary solution to protect people’s income and manage our costs whilst all Carnival Corporation’s brands operations are on pause. Your access will remain the same and we encourage you to stay in regular contact with your team and line manager, and stay up to date on the latest news on The Insider. It’s worth keeping a record of the IT helpdesks number in case your log in expires. IT Support – 023 8065 6000.
Am I being made redundant?
No. Currently there are no plans for redundancies. Our guiding principle has and continues to be that, through to June, we want to wherever possible avoid adversely impacting anyone’s income. We want to do what is right and fair by our people and we also want to be transparent, proactive and realistic.
We are taking these short-term steps now to protect the business, for all of us here in Corporate Shipbuilding.
Whilst being on Furlough you remain an employee and subject to all of your usual terms and conditions of employment, other than having to carry out work.
I haven’t been put forward for Furlough, but I’m struggling to juggle work with home life but can’t afford to reduce my hours – can I put myself forward for Furlough?
We have identified individuals for Furlough whom the operational pause of all Carnival Corporation’s brands has left some people with lighter workloads. We are not looking for volunteers for Furlough. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve and business demands change we will need to be open to different work patterns and encourage flexibility to help everyone to stay safe and well. We encourage you to keep talking to your line manager and in the meantime – please remember to use the tools and guidance on the COVID-19 Shore: Working from home and flexible working pages on The Insider.
Short-time working (Germany)
What is short- time work?
Short-time work is the reduction of working time for selected employees or an entire operation to reduce employee costs. With political support and a collective pay agreement, this instrument is used in times of crisis to stabilise the impact on the economy. Employers can take the chance to match their demands during temporary periods of low demand with reduced working hours, through the scheme which is funded by the German Government
Why is Corporate Shipbuilding using short-time work?
Short-time work can be implemented when the employer needs to react flexibly to a changing economic situation, in this case COVID-19, by making changes to working patterns/hours on a temporary basis. In the present situation, it has been decided to introduce the short-time working scheme at Carnival Technical Services (Corporate Shipbuilding). We will ask our employees to work less than the regular contractual hours to safeguard our business and employees through this difficult time.
How is short-time work compensated?
The shortage of work will result in less remuneration during this period. This will allow us to reduce labour costs in connection with the coronavirus outbreak and its economic impact. In this situation, the difference between the normal working hours and the reduced working hours will be paid by the State (up to a capped amount) with either 67% or 60% of the employee’s net variance:
(1) Short time payment for an employee with at least one child registered at the German tax office as : 67%
(2) For all other employees: 60%
Employees subject to short-time work will be eligible to so-called “short-time work allowance” (Kurzarbeit), as part of their salary compensation.
How do I get paid when on short-time work?
CTS GmbH will continue to pay your pro-rata salary according to the hours worked, plus short-time work compensation in accordance with SGB III via the normal payroll on the normal dates each month. This includes yard allowance if this applies to you.
How long can the company put me on short-time work?
For a maximum period of 12 months. In exceptional cases, short-time schemes may be granted for a maximum of 24 months.
To which extent are employees affected?
Ultimately, short-time work relies on the needed workforce volume to operate our business. The reduction in working time can result in a few hours, days or even weeks depending on the economic situation during the next weeks. The employer is free to decide the gap between the “normal” working hours and the adaptive working time. If there is no work, the employee will receive no wage, only Kurzarbeit.
Am I being made redundant?
Currently there are no plans for redundancies. Our guiding principle has and continues to be that, we want to wherever possible avoid adversely impacting anyone’s income. We want to do what is right and fair by our people and we also want to be transparent, proactive and realistic.
We are taking these short-term steps now to protect the business, for all of us here in Corporate Shipbuilding.
Can I still be made redundant whilst on short-time work?
Currently there are no plans for redundancies. You can still be made redundant while on short-time work or immediately after.
We are very confident in our ability to successfully re-enter the market and we will do that by continuing to do the right things for our Guests and our colleagues now. We want to hold on to our talented people, and protect their personal and financial wellbeing as best we can. At the same time, we have to manage the company’s resources wisely.
If we were to engage in any changes within our company then we would consult with those impacted.
While on short-time work, am I still employed by CTS GmbH and do I still accrue continued employment?
Your normal terms and conditions of employment remain the same with the exception that you will not accrue holiday on short-time work and this will be pro-rated based on how many hours are worked.
How long will I be on short-time work for and will my working pattern change more than once?
Short-time work can be implemented for a period up to 12 months.
Our plan is to review our short-time working arrangements on a monthly basis. We make the commitment to you that you will be made aware of any changes to your short-time working pattern for the next month with two weeks’ notice being given.
Why have I been put forward for short-time work, but other members of my team haven’t?
We know that the operational pause of all Carnival Corporation’s brands has left some people with lighter workloads. People have been put on short-time work based on their workload and what they are working on, as well as what work needs to be done over the coming months.
The National Layoff Fund (Italy)
How will the layoff fund work?
- On days when the worker benefits from the layoff fund, no work activity can take place
- There will be a 40% reduction in ordinary working hours per week (2 full days for those with working hours spread over 5 days per week)
- In accordance with the Prime Ministerial Decree of 20 March 2020, each eligible Costa employee is required to use 18 layoff days before 31 August 2020. In line with Costa we are looking to utilise these days as quickly as possible and as such the scheme started on 4 May 2020 and will run for the next 9 weeks. There is the possibility of extension
- Layoff days will be either every Tuesday and Friday or every Tuesday and Wednesday
- In the event of exceptional and unforeseeable work needs, the employee may be called back to work in this case the change of the layoff day can only take place following the request by the appropriate VP
- The supporting documents for exceptions will be entered and managed in Time & Modules exclusively by the Costa Personnel Administration team
- The layoff fund provides for the payment of 80% of the salary that the employee would have received during normal working hours, subject to the following limits/amounts:- Gross annual salary up to €. 25,914 allowance € 998.18 gross per month (€. 5.77 gross per hour)
– Gross annual salary over €. 25.914 allowance €. 1,199.72 gross per month (€. 6,93 gross per hour)
How is Costa financially enhancing the layoff fund?
In order to mitigate and make the impact of the cash on wages more uniform, Costa is providing the following additional support:
- Where allowed with the so-called top up to 50% of the gross remuneration, in order not to affect more than 50% of the remuneration on layoff days. In this way, the impact of the cash on the perceived net, which would have been on average 25%, will be lowered to 15%.
- For more favourable treatment than the national CIGO, Costa will maintain the accrual of thirteenth and fourteenth month pay, holidays, ROL and TFR at 100%.
There will be no negative effects on pension contributions.
Will I continue to use previously accrued holidays as scheduled on Fridays?
No, for the layoff period, you will have arrange an alternative plan to make use of the previous years’ holiday with your line manager.
Will vacation targets be assigned for the layoff months?
Yes, based on individual plans, taking into account the residual previous years and the reduction in operating activities.
If I am on early, compulsory maternity leave, parental leave and have not resumed working since my child was born, do I have to effect layoff days?
No, the layoff period will begin when you resume work until the end of the nine-week layoff period as required by the Costa.
If, during the layoff period, I am absent for compulsory maternity leave, how long will I be
affected by the reduction in working hours?
Until the day before the start of compulsory maternity leave.
Who can I contact if I have further questions not covered in the FAQs?
If you need further information, please contact your line manager in the first instance, or Giuseppina Pruzzo (Pruzzo@costa.it) who is part of the Costa HR team.
Welfare and People Policies
I feel unwell with symptoms not related to Coronavirus, do I have to work remotely?
If you feel unwell, please inform your line manager and treat this as a normal sickness absence.
What does self-isolating mean?
If you have been told to self-isolate, you will need to get to the place you are going to stay, and once there, you should remain there and avoid contact with other people. This will prevent you from spreading the disease to your family, friends and the wider community.
In practical terms, this means that once you reach your residence you must:
• Stay at home
• Not go to work, school or public areas
• Not use public transport like buses, trains, tubes or taxis
• Avoid visitors to your home
• Ask friends, family members or delivery services to carry out errands for you – such as getting groceries, medications or other shopping
Please refer to your local health authorities for more detailed advice and guidance.
Can I adjust my working hours, to work around my childcare needs, given that schools and nurseries are now closed?
We fully expect that as a result of school and nursery closures, individuals and teams will need to come up with some creative solutions and think about flexible working in a much broader sense than may have previously been the case. Please see below a few suggestions that could be considered:
• Could you work in split shifts, spreading chunks of working time throughout the day?
• Could you incorporate evenings and weekends into your working pattern?
• Do you need to reduce your hours or take some additional holiday?
• Could the work be organised differently between you and your colleagues?
• Could there be some ‘core hours’ you agree as a team when you’re all available, to ensure there’s the opportunity to stay connected and collaborate effectively?
Once your schedule has been agreed with your line manager, it’s a good idea to share this with your team so they know when you’ll be available.
Travel (business & personal)
I have been asked to stay away from work however, I have holiday booked for some of this time. Can I take it?
If you’ve been asked to stay away from work by us (Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding) for a precautionary period, you should consider whether it is appropriate to travel to any other destination.
If you have been advised to stay at home by a health professional or health agency you should contact them directly and take their advice. If you choose not to travel through personal choice or if your planned travel can no longer go ahead, you should continue to use the annual leave you had already booked off as planned. If your role is business critical during this period it may not be possible to take the annual leave, please discuss this further with your line manager.
My business travel has been arranged for later on this year, will my business travel still go ahead? Currently we recommend against all non-essential travel, as the situation evolves, things change. We ask you to closely monitor both your government’s travel advice and the travel advice of the government of the country you are planning to travel to.
Please note that any future overseas travel requires approval from Bo-Erik Blomqvist, Senior Vice President.
What should I do if I want to travel on a personal trip?
We understand that some of our people live and work away from their families and that in the present situation you may want to travel to visit them at this unsettling time. Please ensure you use both your government’s travel advice and the travel advice of the government of the country you are planning to travel to. If you find yourself unable to get back from the country you have visited due to restrictions on travel, the time that you unable to work as a result of this must be taken as unpaid leave or as annual leave. Please speak to your line manager if you are planning on taking a personal trip abroad.
Equipment & Tools
Can I buy items for use at home and claim the cost back through expenses?
We have provided everyone where needed some equipment to support you in working from home. If you decide you would like to purchase further equipment to support you in working from home, this is your personal choice and unfortunately the company won’t be able to cover this cost. Therefore, please be aware of this before making any purchases.
I need to stay in touch with my colleagues. How do I do this?
There are many audio / video options available for keeping touch with colleagues and external stakeholders:
| System | Who has it | Screen share |
Phone dial in | Meeting duration |
No. participants | SIP address (2) |
| Zoom – free | Download: https://zoom.us/client/latest/ZoomInstaller.exe
Site teams – no admin rights needed CUK teams – create an IT SR if you need to install |
Yes | No | 40 mins | Up to 100 | Yes |
| Zoom – licenced | CUK’s Directors and above now have an account. Create an IT SR if you need an account | Yes | Yes | 24hrs | unlimited | Yes |
| Skype for Business | Site teams only
Create REQ in ServiceNOW if you don’t have it |
Yes | Yes | 24hrs | unlimited | Yes |
| MS teams | Anyone can download, laptop and / or mobile, and set up own account:
https://products.office.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software |
Yes | No | 24hrs | unlimited | No(3) |
| WhatsApp / Facetime | Call your colleagues for audio / video catch up | No | Yes | 24hrs | 1-2-1 | No(3) |
(1) Only if you have a private room set up – ask CUK IT to set it up for you
(2) SIP address: a SIP address looks like an email in a meeting invite, for example 8888@vc.carnivaluk.co.uk. You should also have a meeting or code ID
(3) You will not be able to join the video / document sharing capability of other systems. If you do need to do this, please get access to the other AV systems mentioned in this table.
Can I download free software to my work laptop?
IT has restrictions in place to ensure that we do not download potentially harmful software on our laptops and whilst it is frustrating, it is essential that you check with your local IT Support before installing anything that isn’t listed in the table above.
How can I ensure I protect the company’s intellectual property and adhere to GDPR whilst sharing information differently whilst working remotely?
We appreciate that the ways in which you and your team are now sharing data may be different to how you were working previously. Please be mindful when sharing information and data on other platforms that this is secure and necessary files are always password protected.
Carnival UK users can now access the site team’s network drives, and we’re working on getting the site team’s access to the Southampton common drive. We are also working on OneDrive (a CCL IT system) which is more secure than FTP and allows file transfer with third parties, we’ll share more information once we have it.
My internet connection is very slow and affecting my working abilities, what can I do?
To test your internet speed, visit https://www.speedtest.net/. If your speed is slower than expected, please contact your internet provider to see if they can offer any guidance on a solution. Also try contacting your local IT department who may be able to offer advice or tips to improve the connection and check you are on the correct network for working from home.
I would like to use some of my time for personal development, how can I do this?
All Corporate Shipbuilding employees have access to an online learning platform named The Cove. This can be accessed here. If you are new to this resource or you would like some further information on what it can offer, please read the Introducing The Cove article on The Insider. If you have any issues logging into The Cove please contact Steven Ellis (steven.ellis@carnivalukgroup.com)