Company wont put employees on Furlough

Dale78

I work for a very well known UK brand and have been temporally laid off due to the Covid-19 crisis. I've just been told that the company wont be putting its employees on furlough and wont be applying for the governments Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme with no valid reason given. As you can imagine this is causing much stress and upset. Is this legal and do we have any rights as employees?

Andy_L

Assuming there is a lay-off clause in your contract then it is legal.
IIRC your rights are to a minimal amount of payment and the right to demand redundancy after 4? Weeks

JD2018

It's disappointing to see so many employers doing the same. 

sujman

One company I know wont furlough their small team of mobile engineers and maintenance staff is because they say they don't trust the government not to change the goal posts and end up not repaying the company the furloughed staff costs.   Instead, they re-negotiated with their staff a 'day rate' and will use then as and when they need them.

MrsPepperpot

Hi Dale 
The Government Job Retention Scheme that uses 'Furlough' has been set up for businesses who are unable to pay their staff, therefore your company do not have to sign up to the scheme.
From the information that you have given it looks like you have been laid off, see link - https://www.gov.uk/lay-offs-short-timeworking.
I hope that this helps to clarify the sitution for you.

Andy_L

sujman said:

One company I know wont furlough their small team of mobile engineers and maintenance staff is because they say they don't trust the government not to change the goal posts and end up not repaying the company the furloughed staff costs.   Instead, they re-negotiated with their staff a 'day rate' and will use then as and when they need them.

Others are doing it because they dont have the cash on hand to cover the 2 months delay before the money comes through

Dale78

Thanks for your replies. It makes no sense as to why the company wont support their employees at no extra cost to them. When things do go back to normal no one will want to go back so it will cost the company more to hire and train new employees. If word got out it would be a PR disaster for the company as they are seen as one of the best companies to work for.

LilElvis

Are you working and being paid? If so the company don't need to put you on furlough - it's for when there is no work.

Even big brand names are at high risk of failing - you only have to look at what has happened to Laura Ashley, House of Fraser, Carluccios. A raft of high profile companies were teetering on the brink before this crisis and it's inevitable that some will never open their doors again.

When this is over there will be a huge increase in the number of unemployed so if you choose to leave your current employer you will likely find securing a new position far harder as there will be far greater competition for the jobs available.

Dale78

LilElvis said:

Are you working and being paid? If so the company don't need to put you on furlough - it's for when there is no work.

Even big brand names are at high risk of failing - you only have to look at what has happened to Laura Ashley, House of Fraser, Carluccios. A raft of high profile companies were teetering on the brink before this crisis and it's inevitable that some will never open their doors again.

When this is over there will be a huge increase in the number of unemployed so if you choose to leave your current employer you will likely find securing a new position far harder as there will be far greater competition for the jobs available.

I'm currently not working, I've been temporally laid off but still employed by the company. My job is waiting for me when the crisis is over. We're not on the brink and our doors will open again, we're a very profitable company. 

Dale78

MrsPepperpot:
I've been temporally laid off unpaid but still employed by the company. We still get to keep all our benefits and holiday entitlement and have been told that our jobs are waiting for us when the business is back up and running.

sharpe106

Even big brand names are at high risk of failing - you only have to look at what has happened to Laura Ashley, House of Fraser, Carluccios. A raft of high profile companies were teetering on the brink before this crisis and it's inevitable that some will never open their doors again.

None of them companies have failed because of this they are just using that as an excuse, for poor running of the companies for years.