The Leading British cruise line P&O Cruises announced that the crew will receive a goodwill payment, in addition their contractual notice in order to ensure the employees continue to receive some pay for the following months. P&O Cruises crew will receive 30 days’ notice for ending of the contract and will get paid for those 30 days. If the crew contract is due to end after June 30, they will get paid 40% of their salary for the months of May and June.

The company will try to sent as many crew back home as possible, however, those who are not able to reach home because of some restrictions will remain on board. If their contract has already ended or it will end soon they will stop working and remain on board as visitors. After their contract has ended and moving forward they will get paid 5£ per day or 150£ per month as goodwill payment by P&O. All crew that will remain on board will have free accommodation, food, and internet. According to our source, the crew which are at home, and scheduled to join the P&O ships in May or June will receive 28% of their salary.

P&O Cruises has sent the following letter, to the crew informing them about the latest updates and payment:

As you're aware, we have had to make the decision to pause our cruise operations, in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It's the right thing to do for the safety and wellbeing of our guests and our people, and it was absolutely necessary to sustain and protect our business for the future.

Keeping you safe and well is our number one priority and we know that pay could be a source of anxiety during this difficult time. We want to reassure you that as part of the world's largest leisure travel company, we are confident in our ability to successfully re-enter the market when the time is right. In the meantime, we want to provide some certainty around your pay in these uncertain times.

We need to serve you notice to end your current tour contract. We will make every effort to repatriate you as soon as possible as we appreciate you'll want to be at home with your family; we're putting extra checks in place to ensure your wellbeing until we know you're safely home.

We are serving you 1 months' notice to end your current tour of duty, as of today's date. Where applicable, we're also going to give you a goodwill payment in addition to your contractual notice to ensure you continue to receive some pay for months 2 and 3 where you'd otherwise not be paid. This payment will be pro-rated based on when your contract was due to end (or the date we repatriate you if this is later than your contract and end date), up until the end of June 2020. We are going to pay you in the following way:

• - April: 70% of expected earnings - incentive earning roles in F&B &Housekeeping; Contractual amount per SEA - for all other crew.
• - May: Goodwill payment 40% of April amount for all departments
• - June: Goodwill payment 40% of April amount for all departments
• (prorated based on when the contract was due to end or start-up until 30th June)

This is above and beyond the contractual notice you would otherwise be entitled to, so we hope you can understand this is a sign of our appreciation of your hard work. We're still evaluating which roles are critical to the continued managing of the ships whilst they are docked in lay-up, and so it's possible we may need to rescind notice at a later date if you're still on board. We will contact you if that's the case."