Furloughed but told to work?

diggingdude

essdee86 said:

I am in the same position and basically have the choice of working whilst on furlough or losing my job.
Can anyone confirm that as individuals my colleagues and I would not be held responsible if our boss was found out? We're all uncomfortable with the situation, to say the least but our boss doesn't think he's doing anything wrong (despite it being clearly spelled out that we CAN NOT WORK if claiming the benefit).

I know this is the moral high road but i hope they change things so you are also punished if you are knowingly taking part in fraud.  This is a crisis, not a save money quick scheme for businesses.  You should let HMRC know, but i appreciate how difficult that is

meandmeandme

I'm in the same position, just been pointed to this thread on mine...
Has anyone made any decisions on how they are going to handle this? As Monday morning looms I'm getting more and more stressed.

thepeopleschamp

Hi
I'm in the same position. I've been furloughed on 100% for the month of April and the business owner said that from time to time do some work and make a note of the hours. A bit like being oncall as I work in IT. When  I pointed out to the boss that I cant work under furlough he dismissed it and said it is fine just make the note of any hours you work and submit to HR. He said that his other friends who are business owners are doing a similar thing and will need this to claim from HMRC. Sounds very dodgy to me as I'm sure you can't work when furloughed. From May the company may ask employees to take voluntary annual leave. I have leave booked in May anyway but if I'm furloughed and they decide not to pay 100% then I'm considering cancelling the annual leave as I should be paid full for this leave. Am I correct in assuming this?

InA

HMRC has said any fraudulent claims made under the scheme – for example, where employees have continued to work while furloughed – are likely to result in criminal convictions.

He said HMRC had put in place a number of measures to minimise fraud, which included:

• the requirement for an employer to have already been authenticated by HMRC
• a four- to six-day payment processing period to allow background checks
• checks on employers after a payout has been made to verify a claim was real.

https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/fulough-tupe-eligibility/

It will only take one whistleblower to bring down an employer. I also suspect that any employer who applies for this grant will be audited, so the paper trail would need to be consistent with having furloughed workers, which would be difficult to do for claims that aren't genuine.

sliphi

Brian_UU said:

My partner and a couple of colleagues have been told to continue working from home, whilst being furloughed.
Their employer intends to top up their wages from the government's 80% to 100%, and have them working from home.
Is this legal?
My partner is worried that being responsible for payroll, they will be in trouble if this is not above board.

What make you think your partner has been fuloughed?
Could you post a copy of his notice stating he has been please (remove personal information) - I'm sure it explains everything you need to know

yawning_angel

Just to update on my position here - all the lads at work including myself r still furloughed, but expected to keep working. Pay at 80% but still expected to work 100% of normal hours. Still not happy about it but unsure what else to do. We have asked if our hours can be cut my 20% as a gesture but no... we have to go flat out still. Starting to feel pretty angry bout this.

Jeremy535897

yawning_angel said:

Just to update on my position here - all the lads at work including myself r still furloughed, but expected to keep working. Pay at 80% but still expected to work 100% of normal hours. Still not happy about it but unsure what else to do. We have asked if our hours can be cut my 20% as a gesture but no... we have to go flat out still. Starting to feel pretty angry bout this.

Are you sure you have been furloughed, and not just asked to take a pay cut?

yawning_angel

Yup we have been furloughed. 

neilmcl

yawning_angel said:

Just to update on my position here - all the lads at work including myself r still furloughed, but expected to keep working. Pay at 80% but still expected to work 100% of normal hours. Still not happy about it but unsure what else to do. We have asked if our hours can be cut my 20% as a gesture but no... we have to go flat out still. Starting to feel pretty angry bout this.

Blow the whistle on them - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/customs-excise-and-vat-fraud-reporting

I assume you can provide documentary evidence should you need to?

pmac183

furlough means a leave of absence. This would indeed be criminal fraud by the employer and could result in a prison sentence. I suspect the government will be looking at claims after the crisis is over. One disgruntled employee reporting would result in a full investigation, the company would have to pay money back and those responsible would be in jail. 
I don't think it would be worth the risk.