My boss wants me to work full time but cut my pay - can I ask to be furloughed?

diggingdude

60% pay = 60% hours worked.  Accept nothing less/ the company has shown their dedication to you, show the same to them by not going above and beyond

sliphi

KGRyder said:

I work for a small offshore medical supplies company. We provide supplies to yachts, not to the NHS or to doctors on land. 

I received an email from my boss yesterday (10th April) stating the following:
" ... fair course of action will be to maintain pay for those working from home at 60% of the normal full pay level. This level of pay will continue from the beginning of April until full office-based work can be resumed, and when that will be has to be an individual decision, of course. Pension payments will be preserved. Annual leave will be accrued at 60% of the normal rate whilst the restricted work situation continues, and overtime will not be approved during this period."

I have a few questions with regards to this:
1 - I've been working from home since around the 27th March. I sit at my desk from 8am to at least 5pm, sometimes I'm still there at 7pm. I don't even take a break for lunch. He is furloughing a few members of the team, so they will be getting 80% of their salary despite not working. How is it fair that I'm working 40+ hours and getting 60% but they're not working at all and getting 80%?
2 - Can he backdate reductions in pay? I wouldn't have thought that he would be able to make any changes in pay without prior consent? Especially not when I've already worked 7 days of that month and knew nothing of the reductions. 
3- It was my decision to self-isolate because a) I have asthma and was following government guidelines and b) I'm severely allergic to alcohol which everyone is scrubbing every surface in the office with now. Will this bite me in the !!!!!!? My dad seems to think that because I chose to self-isolate that I wont have a leg to stand on. 

I have zero issue with working from home, and would like to see the company continue operating so that I have a job to go back to when this is all over. But I do not want to work the same amount of hours, or more, for 40% less pay. 

Basically I want to know if / how I can get around this? Can I ask to be furloughed?

I'm getting extremely stressed out by this and woke up in the night with a migraine because of it. I appreciate any help anyone can give me!

You and your employer are obliged to comply with the terms of employment you have both agreed to, unless and until you mutually agree otherwise.

Of course, if you fail to agree something different, the employer may elect to make you redundant if he no longer has sufficient work for you to do, in the interests of the business he is striving to maintain.

If you can prove you were made redundant despite the company having sufficient work, or you were selected for redundancy unfairly, you may be able to bring about a claim for unfair dismissal.

[Deleted User]

KGRyder said:

I get 23 days holiday a year. 

Right, so they are reducing your working hours. At the very least they need to confirm which 3 days or 22.5 hours a week they want you to work.

And you can of course reject this change to your contract. You could ask them what happens if you reject. And you can ask for arbitration too.

P1

Some employers will get lynched and battered when this is done!  If I walked round a corner to witness my boss getting mugged I would do nothing!  All respect has gone.

sharpe106

P1 said:

Some employers will get lynched and battered when this is done!  If I walked round a corner to witness my boss getting mugged I would do nothing!  All respect has gone.

Why they are protecting the company, which is what they are paid to do. What government ministers and journalists say is irrelevant. They are going to follow the guidance. The policy is very unclear so it is the government you should be annoyed with. They have deliberately left the policy unclear knowing that companies will not risk claims being denied so will not make them, making the employers look like the bad guy. Great bit of political spin.