Pay cut whilst been furloughed

Thrugelmir

Companies are going to have to adapt to survive. In the same way that people are. Good companies will aim for everyone to share part of the burden. Keeping the entire workforce on the payroll if possible. Rather than select a few for redundancy. Which in itself impacts the operational side of the business. Having a job is better than no job at all. 
If you have debt issues then visit the Debt Free Wannabe Forum as only takes one "crisis" of any kind to tip people over the cliff edge. Better to tackle that issue head on however challenging it may seem. 

wendycomp

I have been put on furlough till the end of May and had to take a 20 percent paycut as well by our boss (guilt-tripped). With many people being made redundant it was the best thing to do. However, with the furlough scheme only lasting to June who knows what will happen after.

Fi_Bailey

sharpe106 said:

Will you lose you job? Nobody on here knows. Your company may be trying to pull a fast one or they may have no other choice. If you decline to sign it the two main options are that they can either carry or as you are now or make you redundant basically. They can't sack you for not signing it.  

Thank you, makes complete sense. Have also got in touch with ACAS who have also been very helpfull.

sliphi

Fi_Bailey said:

I have been furloughed out as of the 1st April for 3 weeks and again from the 22nd April for 3 weeks which I have agreed to with my employer. But I have received an email through my work email address to ask if I can take a temporary 10% decrease in my slary as of the 1st May. I am struggling with being furloughed and the extra 10% will put into debt. Can you advise as to how I go about telling my employer that this is putting me in a very difficult position and what are my rights 

Nice little word - No.

sliphi

Deleted_User said:

You can reject the decrease, but it may mean the difference between keeping the company afloat or not.

Discuss it with them and see what compromise you can reach.  In the meantime, cut your costs to see if you can live within your reduced income.

The OP has been furloughed, presumably on 80% of their usual salary based on the fact they say they are struggling.
Government will pay the employer the whole of the 80% (and extras like employers tax, NICs, etc), so a pay cut from 01 May will not affect the employers financial standing.

sliphi

Fi_Bailey said:

Hi TheAble, I am getting 80% pay and cannot work anywhere else to make up the difference. They are not paying me the 20% to make up the difference. The going back to "normal" is the issue, they have given me no indication of how long this temporary cut is for, only to say, it will be reviewed on a monthly basis and it would be their hope that they can reinstate salary rates as soon as it is practical to do so. 

You employer is obliged to consult with you before placing you on furlough, and then provide written evidence that specifies the terms of furlough (including how long for) although they can renew the period with your agreement.

If you've not agreed anything to the contrary, then your terms of employment are not affected. i.e. you should be receiving what your contract of employment states you will receive.

Semple

Have they indicated whether everyone including management will be expected to take a 10% pay cut. It's certainly unfair to target individuals to request paycuts unless you're the highest paid earner in the company.

The tricky part is if you say no, the company could then look at redundancies. 

If everyone else is taking a 10% paycut, then personally I'd follow suit, but insist on something like pay goes back to normal in 3 months, and that the company would need to negotiate again if a reduced salary is required for longer.