Delay redundancies to IRUK staff

Dear brother Naser,

We hope you are well and in the best of health.

We, the undersigned, write to you concerning the redundancies of our fellow colleagues owing to IRUK's restructure which is due to go ahead on the 1st of July 2020.

We are very concerned about the timing of the implementation given that we're going through a very difficult time because of covid-19. No one wants to find themselves out of a job and struggling to pay their bills, especially during this pandemic.

As an organisation that prides itself in values of compassion and social justice, we want Islamic Relief to approach this a different way.

Many organisations have decided to put hiring decisions on hold due to “substantial uncertainty” surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. We are aware that Islamic Relief has also had to freeze new recruitments to ride out the uncertainty presented by covid-19. But we are encouraged by your announcement on 19th of June that the Financial Resilience Plan has saved the organisation over £2 million so far to protect us against the economic turbulence caused by the coronavirus.

The government's furlough scheme has also been a lifeline for Islamic Relief. The scheme was brought in to avoid job losses and redundancies. We would like to see this scheme continued to be utilised, where possible, or alternatively, utilise savings and income raised during Ramadan to support our colleagues and delay the redundancies for as long as possible.

We, the undersigned, are making a heartfelt appeal to you, brother Naser, that you humbly look into this and intervene to delay this decision to help our colleagues in these difficult circumstances.

We believe that a delay in implementation of the new structure and redundancies by a couple of months can do no harm to the organisation given that we have a strong resilience plan and where possible, the assistance provided by the government's furlough scheme or other means to rely on.  

We are grateful to you and have no doubt that you will do whatever is within your power to help our colleagues in their time of need just as we serve and help millions of people around the world as a humanitarian organisation.  

Best wishes,        

Islamic Relief staff members    Contact the author of the petition