Japan Airlines employees to get $1,400 work-from-home allowance

Employees of Japan Airlines will receive a ‘special allowance’ of ¥150,000 (US$1,400) in July to help them with their work-from-home needs, company sources said, according to Japan Times.

Despite seeing its revenue tumble amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline is hoping that the allowance will help boost the morale of its employees, having already halved their summer bonuses from year-earlier levels.

Chairman Yoshiharu Ueki and President Yuji Akasaka will receive no bonuses, while other executives will have their bonuses cut by 70%.

The total allowances which will be handed out to about 36,000 employees of the carrier and its group companies, will cost the company ¥5 billion (US$46.6 million).

Since March, Japan Airlines has been encouraging employees to work from home, aiming to reduce the office attendance rate to 60% or lower.

In the first quarter of 2020, the airline posted a group net loss of ¥29.9 billion (US$270 million) to stay in the red for four straight quarters for the first time since it relisted in 2012 following a business failure.