Furlough choice? - employers said no!?

robbiez

The government is very clear about furloughed workers. 
<font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">https://</font>www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees
"If your employer cannot cover staff costs due to COVID-19, they may be able to access support to continue paying part of your wage, to avoid redundancies."

It really is that simple.
Mixed messages are fuelled by help from experts, including Martin Lewis, who suggest employees can ask to be furloughed if they want to self isolate or look after their children.

calcotti

robbiez said:

The government is very clear about furloughed workers. 
<font face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">https://</font>www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees
"If your employer cannot cover staff costs due to COVID-19, they may be able to access support to continue paying part of your wage, to avoid redundancies."

It really is that simple.
Mixed messages are fuelled by help from experts, including Martin Lewis, who suggest employees can ask to be furloughed if they want to self isolate or look after their children.

Thanks fir that. Good to return to basics. All the headlines about the government paying workers 80% of their wages are highly misleading. 

Pricivius

Until we have further details from the government, it is guesswork.  However, other jurisdictions who have already brought furlough in (including Ireland and NZ) are requiring companies to self-declare a drop in monthly turnover from year to year of  at least 25-30%, confirm that they have taken other mitigating measures and give the government full audit rights.  Companies who do use furlough are then named on the government website and false declarations are a criminal offence.  Some companies may not fulfil these criteria, or want to open themselves up to scrutiny.  If the UK does something similar, furlough is not the silver bullet everyone seems to think it is - and certainly not for looking after kids or self-isolating at will.

robbiez

Pricivius said:

Until we have further details from the government, it is guesswork.  However, other jurisdictions who have already brought furlough in (including Ireland and NZ) are requiring companies to self-declare a drop in monthly turnover from year to year of  at least 25-30%, confirm that they have taken other mitigating measures and give the government full audit rights.  Companies who do use furlough are then named on the government website and false declarations are a criminal offence.  Some companies may not fulfil these criteria, or want to open themselves up to scrutiny.  If the UK does something similar, furlough is not the silver bullet everyone seems to think it is - and certainly not for looking after kids or self-isolating at will.

Absolutely.
Martin Lewis has been on TV telling people they can ask to be furloughed so they can look after their children or to self isolate for 3 months. He suggests there is a strong indication the government will amend the scheme soon and employers will not be prosecuted for furloughing employees who want to self isolate for 3 months or want to stay at home with their children. 

neilmcl

robbiez said:

Pricivius said:

Until we have further details from the government, it is guesswork.  However, other jurisdictions who have already brought furlough in (including Ireland and NZ) are requiring companies to self-declare a drop in monthly turnover from year to year of  at least 25-30%, confirm that they have taken other mitigating measures and give the government full audit rights.  Companies who do use furlough are then named on the government website and false declarations are a criminal offence.  Some companies may not fulfil these criteria, or want to open themselves up to scrutiny.  If the UK does something similar, furlough is not the silver bullet everyone seems to think it is - and certainly not for looking after kids or self-isolating at will.

Absolutely.
Martin Lewis has been on TV telling people they can ask to be furloughed so they can look after their children or to self isolate for 3 months. He suggests there is a strong indication the government will amend the scheme soon and employers will not be prosecuted for furloughing employees who want to self isolate for 3 months or want to stay at home with their children. 

Employees CAN ask to be furloughed, it doesn't mean it's their choice though. I haven't seen anywhere that Martin Lewis has suggested otherwise.

Pricivius

neilmcl said:

robbiez said:

Pricivius said:

Until we have further details from the government, it is guesswork.  However, other jurisdictions who have already brought furlough in (including Ireland and NZ) are requiring companies to self-declare a drop in monthly turnover from year to year of  at least 25-30%, confirm that they have taken other mitigating measures and give the government full audit rights.  Companies who do use furlough are then named on the government website and false declarations are a criminal offence.  Some companies may not fulfil these criteria, or want to open themselves up to scrutiny.  If the UK does something similar, furlough is not the silver bullet everyone seems to think it is - and certainly not for looking after kids or self-isolating at will.

Absolutely.
Martin Lewis has been on TV telling people they can ask to be furloughed so they can look after their children or to self isolate for 3 months. He suggests there is a strong indication the government will amend the scheme soon and employers will not be prosecuted for furloughing employees who want to self isolate for 3 months or want to stay at home with their children. 

Employees CAN ask to be furloughed, it doesn't mean it's their choice though. I haven't seen anywhere that Martin Lewis has suggested otherwise.

Agreed, but I do not think it is helpful either for people to think that they can ask for furlough to look after their kids, or that companies are being faced with such requests and being made to look unreasonable for declining when the fact is we just do not have the detail yet.  Similar schemes in Europe are difficult to qualify for - companies need to demonstrate hardship to some degree and this may not be something a company wants to do as it impacts on PR, their competitors and any creditors who may panic and call in debts.  If the UK opens furlough up to anyone for any reason, then fair enough, but at the moment, this is not the case.

robbiez

You can't furlough someone so they can self isolate or so they can look after their children.
Suggesting they can make this request is wrong.

NavSana

Hi All, I am on unpaid leave since schools and childminders closed, to look after my children. Martin's advice is that I'm eligible for the JRS grant but my employer does not agree. This means I have zero income for only God knows how long and I'm not eligible for any benefits either. I still have to pay my childcare providers. Why did the Government not announce anything for people like us? Can we not do something about it?

calcotti

If you have no income why are you not eligible for any benefit system - is it because of savings?

NavSana

I have just never been eligible for any benefits due to my salary. Plus the point I'm trying to make is that why have carers/parents been ignored.