Does Contracted Salary Apply Under Furlough?

BigRich37

My organisation is currently putting people under Furlough and claim they don't need to honour contracted salaries, those on Furlough will only receive the Government Payout, and are not allowed to work for anyone else.  What is the legal position here?  I'm more than a little worried that I'll have no staff in department in two months as they'll all claim breach of contract and walk away.......

gary83

If people agree to the furlough they will get the funds under the scheme, 80% of basic salary, the company is under no obligation to top the funds up, or indeed even apply to furlough people in the first place. Staff are free to work for other companies but not the company that has furloughed them, read the rules on the government website.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Hermann

From the guidance..... 

Employees that have been furloughed

Employees that have been furloughed have the same rights as they did previously. That includes Statutory Sick Pay entitlement, maternity rights, other parental rights, rights against unfair dismissal and to redundancy payments.

Once the scheme has been closed by the government, HMRC will continue to process remaining claims before terminating the scheme.

Employers seem to be offering changed contracts to sign before furloughing.

BigRich37

Thank you - So the key is that people have to agree the Furlough?  That's the bit that's unclear to me....

gary83

yes purely optional, companies have to want to do it & you have to agree it, Thats literally the first lines on the document I linked above;

If you and your employer both agree, your employer might be able to keep you on the payroll if they’re unable to operate or have no work for you to do because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This is known as being ‘on furlough’.

calcotti

Obviously the employee is not in a strong negotiating position at the present time unless they have long service which would make it expensive for the employer to make them redundant.