clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Most of Greggs’ £300 Worker Bonus Could Go to Government Thanks to Universal Credit

The £300 bonus for each of its 25,000 workers will be “claimed back” at 63p per pound for workers on the widely derided benefits system

Boris Johnson’s government policy of Universal Credit is harming Greggs
Boris Johnson with a Greggs sausage roll
Photo by HANNAH MCKAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Your regular reminder that the man behind Universal Credit has a knighthood

Greggs announced it would pay each of its 25,000 workers a bonus of up to £300, on the back of a remarkably strong year largely driven by notable hot item, the vegan sausage roll. Its workers on Universal Credit — a benefits system that has been cut and cut until many claimants are worse-off than on its previous incarnation — may only see £75, £97, or £111, depending on their income threshold, with the government claiming back bonus earnings at 63p in the pound, according to the Guardian.

This is because of a “taper rate” of 63 percent, which reclaims any earnings that go above a given work allowance, meaning that it is government policy that will leave workers worse off, and not Greggs’ desire to reward them for their contribution to the company’s success. [Guardian]

And in other news...

Broadway Market

Broadway Market, , England E8 4QJ

F. Cooke

9 Broadway Market, , England E8 4PH 020 7254 6458