Is my previous employer just for not putting me on furlough?

Jorduqu

I am/was a recruitment agent who was made redundant 2 weeks ago. Since then I have asked my previous employer to please apply to put me on furlough, for which they have tried to jump through every hoop they can find not to do it.

After seeing the video that Martin Lewis made, I got back in touch with my previous employer asking them again and sending them over a link to the video. Again they have come back saying that their accountants have advised them that they would not be allowed to put me on furlough. The reasons they gave were that "They look at company projection per consultant, profitability margins, performance and a few other things".

Has any other recruiter gone through this? Or does anyone know a recruiter who has gone through this?

I am not an accountant so I'm not going to outwardly call them out on this claim, but does anyone know if this is true and the government are looking at company projections to put workers on furlough?

Any help would be great.

sharpe106

To put it bluntly from what you have said they did not make you redundant because of the coronavirus (it might not have helped), but because you were not meeting their targets/expectations etc. So, they decided to get rid of you. 

 

Jorduqu

I know what it sounds like, but I was only at the company for 2 months and hadn't been given official targets yet. In the meeting where I was let go they mentioned that the reasons was purely financial.

sharpe106

Even though you had not been given any targets, I bet your manager had ideas of where they wanted you to be in that time and you had not met that. 

Jorduqu

Ok, whether I met expectations or not, all I want to know is whether what he said in that last email is correct or not? If I'm eligible and they're just unsure about it, I want to make sure they know.

sharpe106

You are only eligible if the reason for them giving you redundancy is due to the coronavirus and even then, it is the company choice if they want to furlough you or not. They can’t be made to which by the sounds of it they really do not.  

Jorduqu

I am fine with them not wanting to do it, I thought as much. I just didn't want to to be in a position where I was eligible and they weren't sure about it.

sharpe106

Yes it depends on why they let you go then if you are eligible or not.