Furlough leave - Crohns sufferer

Lawhill7

Hi, my mum suffers from Crohns disease and has been isolating for 3 weeks now, with plans to do the full 12 weeks due to her condition. She works as a shop assistant in a pharmacy but they've refused to put her on furlough leave as they are government assisted they don't qualify. Her absence means she won't receive any pay / sick pay, so she'll have to return to work. 
Is this correct? Are pharmacies exempt from furlough leave applications for their employees? 
Any advice is appreciated, thank you. 

sharpe106

If it is a taxpayer funded one then yes, the public sector has basically been forgotten about with the furlough scheme. Can you she not claim for SSP?

gary83

any company can choose not to furlough someone if they don’t want to. it was originally intended not to be used for public sector jobs & not to be used when businesses still have work to do it wasn’t supposed to be a makeshift benefit scheme for those with medical needs/childcare problems, although it has since apparently evolved into that.

Illusionary

It is correct the organisations receiving public funding are generally expected not to furlough staff. The Government guidance comments as follows:

Public sector organisations

The government expects that the scheme will not be used by many public sector organisations, as most public sector employees are continuing to provide essential public services or contribute to the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Where employers receive public funding for staff costs, and that funding is continuing, we expect employers to use that money to continue to pay staff in the usual fashion – and correspondingly not furlough them. This also applies to non-public sector employers who receive public funding for staff costs.

Organisations who are receiving public funding specifically to provide services necessary to respond to COVID-19 are not expected to furlough staff.

In a small number of cases, for example where organisations are not primarily funded by the government and whose staff cannot be redeployed to assist with the coronavirus response, the scheme may be appropriate for some staff.


You say that you don't think that she'll qualify for sick pay - are you sure? Self-isolation in accordance with Government guidance is expected to qualify for SSP:

If your employee is self-isolating or on sick leave

If your employee is on sick leave or self-isolating as a result of Coronavirus, they’ll be able to get Statutory Sick Pay, subject to other eligibility conditions applying. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is not intended for short-term absences from work due to sickness, and there is a 3 week minimum furlough period.

calcotti

Illusionary said: If your employee is self-isolating or on sick leave

If your employee is on sick leave or self-isolating as a result of Coronavirus, they’ll be able to get Statutory Sick Pay, subject to other eligibility conditions applying. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is not intended for short-term absences from work due to sickness, and there is a 3 week minimum furlough period.

The legislation passed provides that people who are self-isolating (have coronavirus symptoms or live with someone who has) or have been advised to shield themselves are entitled to SSP. The legislation for those shielding was only laid a week or so ago. People who are social distancing are not covered and are not entitled to SSP.