The Madeira Beer Company (ECM) will put almost all of its 242 workers on a lay-off regime due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its activity. Personnel placed under this regime are exempt from active service but receive only 66% of the salary, with the largest share being paid by Social Security. As a way of easing the constraints on family budgets, the company will anticipate the payment of the Christmas subsidy for 2020 towards the end of April.
ECM has already sent an informative note to its employees regarding the internal perspectives regarding the pandemic, stating that management expects to start, between 10 and 20 April, the simplified lay-off regime.
During this extraordinary period in the life of the company, the production of ECM’s brands will be suspended until their need is verified. However, the company guarantees continuity of service to its customers, without interruption. As a way to continue the distribution of products by customers in activity, mainly in the food area (for example, supermarkets), ECM will carry out a partial lay-off for about 40 employees. Minimum services will also be ensured in essential areas of the company, namely in the department of human resources, administrative services, maintenance and cleaning. The Coral Stores in Ribeira Brava and Rua Alferes Veiga Pestana (behind the Francisco Franco School) will continue to be open to the public, which are operated in partnership with ECM.