Deferred payment

patchyX2

My company has recently announced that those earning above a certain amount are going to be asked to defer 20% of their salary until the company stabilises. We haven't been given any more information at this stage. 

Obviously I'd rather not do this, but I understand the situation they're in. I'm happy deferring payment for up to a year or so, but my main concern would be what happens if this drags on for years, or worse, the business collapses. 

Are there any laws around this and what happens if they collapse, or try and drag it out for years?

Anyone been through something similar and have any advice? 

To make it worse, I'm still on probation so don't want to kick up a fuss as I'd be first out the door! 

Dox

If it's deferred salary (as opposed to a salary cut) and the company goes under, there is a government fund to pay outstanding salaries. As for 'dragging it out for years', it's worth asking them to confirm if they are able to give you any inkling of when the deferred salary might become payable. 

patchyX2

Dox said:

If it's deferred salary (as opposed to a salary cut) and the company goes under, there is a government fund to pay outstanding salaries. As for 'dragging it out for years', it's worth asking them to confirm if they are able to give you any inkling of when the deferred salary might become payable. 

Thanks for your help. It's definitely a deferred salary, not a salary cut. They've said that the salary would become payable once cash reserves return to pre-corona virus levels, so that could be a few weeks/months/years depending on how the business does. 

Regarding the government fund, I've had a look and found this* page, but I'm a bit confused as to how much I would get. If this went on for 12 months I'd be owed ~5k. But based on the below, am I right in saying that they'd only look at the last 8 weeks, so I'd only get ~£800

You’ll get up to 8 weeks of money you’re owed. It counts as a week even if you’re only owed money for a few days.

ExampleIf you are owed £30 of overtime per week for the last 10 weeks, you’ll get £240 (£30 x 8 weeks).

Payments for wages and other money you’re owed are capped at £538 a week (£525 if you were made redundant before 6 April 2020).

* gov.uk/your-rights-if-your-employer-is-insolvent/what-you-can-get