Shift pay furlough scheme

davehartley123

Hi I am currently on the furlough scheme , before I was furloughed my company said I would not be getting shift pay whilst on furlough , the furlough scheme is designed to pay you 80 percent of your income , with me being of shifts , shift allowance makes up 25 percent of my wages so In affect I am only receiving 55 percent of my salary , can anyone shed any light  on this as it seems a grey area 

thanks Dave 

Jeremy535897

The guidance to employers on variable pay is as follows:

"Employees whose pay varies

If the employee has been employed for 12 months or more, you can claim the highest of either the:

• same month’s earning from the previous year
• average monthly earnings for the 2019-2020 tax year

If the employee has been employed for less than 12 months, claim for 80% of their average monthly earnings since they started work.

If the employee only started in February 2020, work out a pro-rata for their earnings so far, and claim for 80%."

You could ask why they aren't following this, assuming it would work out better for you. Their response may be that they don't think shift allowance is allowed to be included. The guidance on this area does not mention shift allowances specifically:

"Past Overtime, Fees, Commission, Bonuses and non-cash payments

You can claim for any regular payments you are obliged to pay your employees. This includes wages, past overtime, fees and compulsory commission payments. However, discretionary bonus (including tips) and commission payments and non-cash payments should be excluded."

davehartley123

My company is adamant they don’t have to pay shift allowance , it isn’t classed as a bonus as it’s the same payment every month for working unsociable hours , surely I shouldn’t feel financial hardship due to working shifts , I should be receiving 80 percent of my wage including shift allowance ?? 

Jeremy535897

There is confusion here. What your employer pays you is per the terms of your employment contract. If they want to amend that, they have to agree it with you. They clearly want to amend your contract so as to avoid having to pay any more than they receive back from HMRC. They will have been advised that it is not certain that they will recover the shift allowance from the government (a premium for working unsociable hours is arguably inappropriate when you are not working those hours), so they are taking the safest route.
You don't have to agree to be furloughed, but the likely consequence will be redundancy.

davehartley123

So are you saying they shouldn’t be Paying me shift allowance whilst I am on the furlough scheme ? Surely it can’t be right for me to suffer an loose 25 percent of my wage the scheme is there to pay 80 percent of your earnings up to £2500 , my earnings even with shift allowance don’t amount to £2500 

Jeremy535897

No, I said that it's their decision as to whether to furlough you, and they have to do the calculation. If they want to reduce your earnings to what they will claim, they have to get your agreement. The guidance to employees says:
"If you are concerned that your employer has claimed on your behalf but is not paying you what you are entitled to as described in this guidance you should raise this with your employer in the first instance, then with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)."
The job retention scheme is designed to protect jobs, not necessarily to put you in the same position (or within 80%) as if you were still working normally.

davehartley123

Ok thanks for you advice this is a real grey area I am currently furloughed an my company are adamant they do no have to pay shift allowance , I am considering emailing my mp an asking for his advice , I am sure it should be included , thanks for your advice 

Jeremy535897

Remember, your company must continue to pay you according to the terms of your contract of employment, until you agree to a variation of it. By all means email your MP. There seems to be an automatic assumption by employers that they should always reduce pay to the number they believe they can claim for. Employees also seem to believe that their employer will always do this, and that they have no say in the matter. Sadly this seems to be true most of the time.