Unpaid Leave on 28 Feb 2020

picardygirl

Apologises in advance if this has already been asked, but I couldn’t find in the forum.    So my son whose been employed by same company for 5 years was on unpaid leave on 28 Feb, he was on authorised unpaid leave from 20 January- 20 May 2020.    Obviously due to the crisis he had to return to the UK end of March and informed his employer he was back and available for work.    At first they said they would be able to apply for furlough but as rules seem to be changing (understandably we are in unknown territory here) but now turns out he’s not eligible for it.  

So where does he stand and is he eligible for anything being an employee ?    If maybe not now but come 20 May what could happen ? 

The workload has virtually been wiped out but a very very small percentage of staff are still working - where does he stands as an employee?   

Thanks 

Jeremy535897

If he agreed with his employer to take unpaid leave for that period, there is nothing he can do. The company cannot furlough him:

"If your employee is on unpaid leave

You can only claim for employees that started unpaid leave after 28 February 2020."

picardygirl

Jeremy535897 said:

If he agreed with his employer to take unpaid leave for that period, there is nothing he can do. The company cannot furlough him:

"If your employee is on unpaid leave

You can only claim for employees that started unpaid leave after 28 February 2020."

Thanks - I wasn’t asking whether he was entitled to furlough as I said ‘turns out he’s not eligible’ - but as an employee where does he stand, stay on unpaid leave til 20 May and then what ?  

poppy12345

picardygirl said:

Jeremy535897 said:

If he agreed with his employer to take unpaid leave for that period, there is nothing he can do. The company cannot furlough him:

"If your employee is on unpaid leave

You can only claim for employees that started unpaid leave after 28 February 2020."

Thanks - I wasn’t asking whether he was entitled to furlough as I said ‘turns out he’s not eligible’ - but as an employee where does he stand, stay on unpaid leave til 20 May and then what ?  

Shouldn't he be asking his employer that question? We can't tell you what will happen after that.

He can look at claiming Universal Credit, providing he doesn't have savings/capital of more that £16,000. or supermarkets we taking on extra staff, i don't know if they're still doing this.

picardygirl

He has asked his employer this question, that’s the first thing he done, he’s been waiting for an answer - BUT in the meantime, it would be good to know his rights, if any,  if they try and fob him off - hence me posting on here.   

sharpe106

He will carry on the authorised unpaid leave until the 20th May. What happens then will depend on the company and his contract. But they can’t furlough him.  

Jeremy535897

picardygirl said:

He has asked his employer this question, that’s the first thing he done, he’s been waiting for an answer - BUT in the meantime, it would be good to know his rights, if any,  if they try and fob him off - hence me posting on here.   

As you can imagine, the company will have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Who knows what the economy will be like on 21 May? I am afraid he will have to be patient. Pushing them now could be counter productive. He must be at risk of being made redundant. As other posters have said, you need to look at his contract of employment and the terms of his unpaid leave. If there are no provisions about notice or redundancy, his statutory rights are here:
https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights

Gonna-be-debt-free

picardygirl said:

He has asked his employer this question, that’s the first thing he done, he’s been waiting for an answer - BUT in the meantime, it would be good to know his rights, if any,  if they try and fob him off - hence me posting on here.   

At 20th May they could:
- bring him off of unpaid leave and pay him to do whatever work is available
- bring him off of unpaid leave and request him to take a reduced wage to do whatever work is available
- request him to continue on unpaid leave (so he wouldn't get paid, could claim UC, and would have a job at the end of it)
- make him redundant (so he would be entitled to statutory redundancy pay)

Because he has worked there for more than 2 years, they can't just dismiss him without cause.

I would suggest his best cause of action is exactly what he is already doing - keep in touch with them to discuss the situation, and obviously remain polite and helpful trying to find a resolution that works for both parties.

picardygirl

Gonna-be-debt-free said:

picardygirl said:

He has asked his employer this question, that’s the first thing he done, he’s been waiting for an answer - BUT in the meantime, it would be good to know his rights, if any,  if they try and fob him off - hence me posting on here.   

At 20th May they could:
- bring him off of unpaid leave and pay him to do whatever work is available
- bring him off of unpaid leave and request him to take a reduced wage to do whatever work is available
- request him to continue on unpaid leave (so he wouldn't get paid, could claim UC, and would have a job at the end of it)
- make him redundant (so he would be entitled to statutory redundancy pay)

Because he has worked there for more than 2 years, they can't just dismiss him without cause.

I would suggest his best cause of action is exactly what he is already doing - keep in touch with them to discuss the situation, and obviously remain polite and helpful trying to find a resolution that works for both parties.

Thank you very much, this is exactly the kind of information I was after, much appreciated.   

picardygirl

Seems the rules have changed again today, now seems furloughing may seem possible after 20 May ....... changing daily at the moment - but thanks for all your comments and help.    

poppy12345

picardygirl said:

Seems the rules have changed again today, now seems furloughing may seem possible after 20 May ....... changing daily at the moment - but thanks for all your comments and help.    

Today's changes are here. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-cut-off-date-extended-to-19-march