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* CEO makes around 100,000 pounds a month
* Says will not cut jobs or pay over virus
(Adds share price, company background)
By Kate Holton
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - The head of Britain's biggest
telecoms firm BT said he would donate his salary to
health workers for at least six months and award a pay rise to
his frontline staff who are maintaining broadband networks
during the COVID-19 shutdown.
Philip Jansen, one of Britain's richest executives from his
time overseeing the flotation of payments processor Worldpay,
also said the company would not make any job cuts related to the
health crisis and maintain all pay for at least three months.
Companies across Britain, big and small, have been forced to
turn to the government to pay their staff as the pandemic cuts
through vast swathes of the economy. BT said it would not need
the scheme and would pay all staff for at least three months.
"This is an unprecedented situation and I want to give our
people some certainty about the months ahead," Jansen said.
"This period requires sacrifices from us all, and I want our
people to know we are all in this together."
Jansen, who tested positive for COVID-19 in early March,
makes around 100,000 pounds ($123,000) a month. He will give his
salary to a charity helping the national health service and
small businesses in his local community.
In the top job since February 2019, he was brought in to
help BT build nationwide gigabit fixed and mobile networks for
the future while trying to shore up revenue and earnings in the
short term.
He inherited a major restructuring programme from his
predecessor Gavin Patterson that included 13,000 job losses.
With a history that dates back to 1846, the group now employs
more than 100,000.
BT said the transformation programme would continue but it
would retrain and reassign people where possible. Those who
normally work in retail are already being redeployed to help
customers.
The company said in October that around 6,200 jobs had been
removed in 18 months.
A previous commitment to make an award of 500 million pounds
worth of shares to all employees will also go ahead. Frontline
staff will get an annual pay increase of 1.5% from July 1 while
managers will not receive an annual pay rise for 2020/21.
Providing the country's biggest broadband, phone line and
mobile network, BT is battling to maintain connectivity across
the country as millions of people work from home.
In recent days it has also had to contend with arson attacks
and the abuse of some staff from people who believe that 5G
masts play a role in spreading the virus.
Shares in the group were up 4.5%.
($1 = 0.8131 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by James Davey and Mark
Potter)
