Furlough and TUPE

BarOwner

Hi, I sold a business on the 18th March 2020 and 19 employees transferred over under TUPE to the new owner/company.  The new company did not have a payroll established as at 28/2/20 so the employees are not eligible for the Government Job Retention Scheme from my understanding.  I am prepared to reemploy them on temporary contracts so they are able to access the scheme but I have bee advised that I cannot do this by an employment solicitor as it would be viewed by HMRC as fraud.  The Government have provided no guidelines on this and can't be reached for clarification. Does anyone have any advice? 
Thanks for helping.

Jeremy535897

You cannot rehire them and furlough them, as you did not make them redundant in the first place. This is a very interesting question, but no doubt critical for your ex-employees, and I can see you feel some obligation to them. Why don't you ask HMRC for their opinion?

BarOwner

Thanks Jeremy.  Have tried HMRC countless times over the last 2 days but the line gets cut off after spending 10 minutes each time running through the automated options!  The employees have continuous service, in one case 10 years.  TUPE is supposed to protect their employment rights but appears to be forgotten in this process.

Jeremy535897

In the face of the advice from your employment lawyer, all you can do is keep trying to get hold of HMRC. If you have an accountant acting for you, they may be able to get through on an agent helpline.