Currently on Sabbatical - can you be furloughed?

EmmaLauren93

Myself and my boyfriend took 6 month unpaid sabbaticals, they were from beginning of January until the end of June. We went backpacking in Asia and returned home late March due to Covid.
My job luckily accepted me back and I am WFH. My boyfriend on the other hand, works for a small company (8 people) and is project based. These projects have mostly been postponed however his boss is keeping other employees going with small bits of work but most of them are very quiet. He has told his boss that he is back and any work would be great and she said she will look into it (3 weeks ago..). He still has left over money which we saved by not continuing Asia but obviously England is alot more expensive to live in than Asia so is running out. 
He is now back and not earning. If he is currently on sabbatical, can be furloughed? His last pay check was in December.

Any advice will be appreciated.

unholyangel

It doesn't look like they can claim for him - because his sabbatical started before 28th Feb. They basically can't furlough him until the 6 months is up. That of course is just the rules for CJRS - what does his contract of employment say? Does it give a right to cancel unpaid leave once approved? 

6.1 An employee is a furloughed employee if-
(a) the employee has been instructed by the employer to cease all work in relation to their employment,
(b) the period for which the employee has ceased (or will have ceased) all work for the employer is 21 calendar days or more, and
(c) the instruction is given by reason of circumstances arising as a result of coronavirus or coronavirus disease. 

6.4 If an employee was enjoying an unpaid sabbatical or other period of unpaid leave on 28 February 2020 (“relevant day”), the period described in paragraph 6.1(b) does not begin in respect of the employee until expiry of the period of leave agreed or contemplated at its commencement or, where the duration of the leave was uncertain on the relevant day because its duration is determinable by reference to a particular circumstance, completion of a particular purpose or occurrence of a specified event, the ending of the circumstance, completion of the purpose or occurrence of the event.

LilElvis

He wasn't on their payroll data at the crucial dates so, no, he can't be furloughed. He can look and see whether he is entitled to any benefits but should also look at securing a new job - there are no guarantees that he actually will have a job to return to at the end of his sabbatical.

EmmaLauren93

Thanks both, helpful.
He doesn't want to claim any benefits unless he is desperate. He may try and get a temp job berry picking or being a postie.
He has a rather niche design job which is a diffcult thing to find. He is confident he will be taken back after sabbatical, there are others who have been there less time and he is often put on leads for projects however it is good to know he may not have a job. If he got made redundant and others in the same job hasn't, how does that work? 

Bit of an awkward position to be in for him.

LilElvis

How long has been employed there? Did they terminate him from the payroll when he left for his sabbatical and issue him with a P45? If he didn't work between January and the tax year end have they been processing him through the payroll with nil pay which would generate tax refunds?

unforeseen

I don't understand. He's on 6 month sabbatical, why would they even consider it? 
I assume that he had his finances planned to cover himself? 

EmmaLauren93

LilElvis said:

How long has been employed there? Did they terminate him from the payroll when he left for his sabbatical and issue him with a P45? If he didn't work between January and the tax year end have they been processing him through the payroll with nil pay which would generate tax refunds?

He has worked there for 4 years. He is still technically on the payroll and yes it has been generating tax refunds each month. He did not get his p45. Does this change anything?

EmmaLauren93

unforeseen said:

I don't understand. He's on 6 month sabbatical, why would they even consider it? 
I assume that he had his finances planned to cover himself? 

Yes, he had planned finances to cover our time in Asia, India to be exact. India is VERY cheap and UK is not, therefore under UK prices he will run out of money before July, in India he would have had money left over. Corona is an unexpected circumstance and we wanted to know where he stood as he is technically on the payroll still.

LilElvis

EmmaLauren93 said:

LilElvis said:

How long has been employed there? Did they terminate him from the payroll when he left for his sabbatical and issue him with a P45? If he didn't work between January and the tax year end have they been processing him through the payroll with nil pay which would generate tax refunds?

He has worked there for 4 years. He is still technically on the payroll and yes it has been generating tax refunds each month. He did not get his p45. Does this change anything?

As he still had information transmitted in March to HMRC he might still be eligible to be furloughed by his employer. He might as well ask as it won't cost the company anything. Worth a try!

Thrugelmir

EmmaLauren93 said:

He has a rather niche design job which is a diffcult thing to find. He is confident he will be taken back after sabbatical, there are others who have been there less time and he is often put on leads for projects however it is good to know he may not have a job. If he got made redundant and others in the same job hasn't, how does that work? 

The broader question is whether the employer will survive. Challenging times lie ahead for many businessess. Being allowed a sabbatical for 6 months suggests that his presence wasn't critical to the company either. 

EmmaLauren93

LilElvis said:

EmmaLauren93 said:

LilElvis said:

How long has been employed there? Did they terminate him from the payroll when he left for his sabbatical and issue him with a P45? If he didn't work between January and the tax year end have they been processing him through the payroll with nil pay which would generate tax refunds?

He has worked there for 4 years. He is still technically on the payroll and yes it has been generating tax refunds each month. He did not get his p45. Does this change anything?

As he still had information transmitted in March to HMRC he might still be eligible to be furloughed by his employer. He might as well ask as it won't cost the company anything. Worth a try!

Thanks! Much appreciated.