company closing down?

daylad

my company is from April 17 furloughing 13 members of staff but keeping myself and a colleague on, we will be required to go into office a couple of times a week for a couple of hours, firstly is this legal? secondly if the managing director of the company decided to shut company would we then be redundant and would he have to pay us redundancy money? He lives in France btw, in normal times comes over every other week, 
thanks

JReacher1

if you’re not being furloughed and are still employed it is perfectly legal to ask you to come into work. 

daylad

i didnt mean it like that, can he pick and choose who he furloughs im thinking of my collegaues not me

JReacher1

Yes he can furlough who he likes. 

Dox

daylad said:

my company is from April 17 furloughing 13 members of staff but keeping myself and a colleague on, we will be required to go into office a couple of times a week for a couple of hours, firstly is this legal? secondly if the managing director of the company decided to shut company would we then be redundant and would he have to pay us redundancy money? He lives in France btw, in normal times comes over every other week, 
thanks

To answer the second part of your question - depends if he shuts the company completely and permanently (in which case everyone will be made redundant), or temporarily, in which case he may choose to furlough any employees who are not currently furloughed. Statutory redundancy pay would be due, plus any contractual entitlements.

bap98189

daylad said:

i didnt mean it like that, can he pick and choose who he furloughs im thinking of my collegaues not me

Essentially the answer is yes, but they need to be a bit careful how they select people. The advice we have received is that people should be selected based on a similar system to redundancy.

The reason for caution is that in 12 months time there are going to be lawyers looking for lost earnings claims. "Were you unfairly furloughed? Claim your lost earnings now." To cover themselves employers should determine who to furlough in a fair and reasonable way.