Should my wife's employer continue to pay 80% of her wage?

Burnley_Lad

My wife has been placed on furlough.  Her employer has just paid her 2 weeks wages yesterday, which covered the period between the last pay date and the last day she was at work before being placed on furlough.

Should she still be receiving 80% of her wage from her employer during this time, and then her employer claims it back from the job retention scheme, or would she have to wait until the job retention scheme opens, her employer puts a claim in, and she receives 80% of her wage as a lump sum when her employer eventually receives the money?

Or, is the intention that the government pays the money directly to employee's bank accounts, bypassing the employer?

Thank you.

Semple

My interpretation is that the employer would continue to pay the salary at 80% and then when the job retention scheme fund is available, they would claim the wage costs back. 
This unfortunately seems to have led to a number of companies with low cash reserves to make staff redundant/reduce hours down to ZHC (if applicable), as they're unable to pay the wage bill without any income. 
I'm not sure there's been any official advice for what your wife should do in that situation. I guess she can only speak to someone senior at the company to query about their understanding of the job retention scheme. 

Undervalued

Burnley_Lad said:

My wife has been placed on furlough.  Her employer has just paid her 2 weeks wages yesterday, which covered the period between the last pay date and the last day she was at work before being placed on furlough.

Should she still be receiving 80% of her wage from her employer during this time, and then her employer claims it back from the job retention scheme, or would she have to wait until the job retention scheme opens, her employer puts a claim in, and she receives 80% of her wage as a lump sum when her employer eventually receives the money?

Yes, but that of course assumes the employer actually has the funds available to do so. If they don't then realistically it is the latter and regardless of the rights and wrongs there is probably little she can do that will get the money any quicker.

Burnley_Lad

Thanks for your quick reply.  My wife works for a small before and after school club with only 3 employees, so it's not likely that the owner will have much in the way of cash reserves.

Undervalued

Burnley_Lad said:

Thanks for your quick reply.  My wife works for a small before and after school club with only 3 employees, so it's not likely that the owner will have much in the way of cash reserves.

Indeed.

Your reply to, I assume, Semple was posted at the same moment as my comments above. Basically we are all thinking along the same lines and they can't pay what they don't have.

Jeremy535897

Government advice is that the employer should seek a business interruption loan, but smaller businesses on the edge may struggle to get one.

Burnley_Lad

Undervalued said:

Burnley_Lad said:

Thanks for your quick reply.  My wife works for a small before and after school club with only 3 employees, so it's not likely that the owner will have much in the way of cash reserves.

Indeed.

Your reply to, I assume, Semple was posted at the same moment as my comments above. Basically we are all thinking along the same lines and they can't pay what they don't have.

Yes, we did reply at the same time, and my reply was to Semple.  We are thinking along the same lines!  Thanks for taking the time to reply though, it's appreciated.

Burnley_Lad

Jeremy535897 said:

Government advice is that the employer should seek a business interruption loan, but smaller businesses on the edge may struggle to get one.

Thanks, I suspect the owner may struggle to get one, it is a very simple set up.

thehig

Jeremy535897 said:

Government advice is that the employer should seek a business interruption loan, but smaller businesses on the edge may struggle to get one.

Issue here is there a lot of employers who won't bother to apply for a business interruption loan, at the end of the day a loan needs to be paid back.
My company have placed us on temporary unpaid and have given odd advice for what to do and have been vauge about the government retention scheme leading me to think they have no intention in applying for it.