Furlough

helensara

My daughter got made redundant and her final pay was the end of March 2020. She asked them to re employ her and put her on furlough. After sending them facts and links they put her on furlough. But after 3 weeks they’ve written to her saying they cannot claim furlough for her anymore so therefore her last day of furlough is tomorrow Tuesday 21st April 2020. My daughter has contacted Citizen Advice and ACAS and has listened to Martin Lewis. Could anyone please advise her at this terrible time please. Thank you. 

TheAble

The difficulty is that granting furlough is at the discretion of the company. Did they give any reasons for retracting? Asking them why would be a good first step.

Undervalued

TheAble said:

The difficulty is that granting furlough is at the discretion of the company. Did they give any reasons for retracting? Asking them why would be a good first step.

Indeed although they are not obliged to reply or give any reason. It is entirely their decision.

One of the problems is that if the firm misinterprets the rules they will not be reimbursed by the government and will end up out of pocket. Even if they get it right they are still advancing the money some months before they will get it back and many companies are struggling with cash flow. 

sharpe106

Also the fact that the person is an employee of the company again, so if they refuse to leave at the end it will again cost them to terminate the person. 

Jeremy535897

The claim process, at least at present, seems to be working well enough to reduce the cash flow issue, and possibly eliminate it. By already rehiring and furloughing you they have caused the issue mentioned by sharpe106 to arise, but I sense that your daughter wasn't entitled to any redundancy? Maybe her official leaving date was some time after the end of March? As said above, ultimately furlough is at the discretion of the employer. What did the document your daughter agreed to on being rehired and furloughed say?