NHS Bank Staff Furlough

od017

I've a part time job working admin at the weekends in the NHS on their admin bank, which I've had for five years. Due to coronavirus the department is not offering any weekend hours. There are disagreements within my trust as to whether or not I can be furloughed. Is anyone here able to advise? Many thanks

Mrsn

Public sectors cannot use the furlough scheme sorry.... the original intention (and this has changed soooo many times!!) is that it was to help with those that would otherwise be redundant due to the current situation. Obviously it goes without saying the expectation the NHS will at this point be very much business as usual even more so with the influx of poorly patients.

Andy_L

Mrsn said:

Public sectors cannot use the furlough scheme sorry.... the original intention (and this has changed soooo many times!!) is that it was to help with those that would otherwise be redundant due to the current situation. Obviously it goes without saying the expectation the NHS will at this point be very much business as usual even more so with the influx of poorly patients.

"The government expects that the scheme will not be used by many public sector organisations, as the majority of public sector employees are continuing to provide essential public services or contribute to the response to the coronavirus outbreak."
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

However the decision is entirely at the discretion of the employer and, for the NHS there is no benefit to them to furlough bank staff

nicechap

od017 said:

I've a part time job working admin at the weekends in the NHS on their admin bank, which I've had for five years. Due to coronavirus the department is not offering any weekend hours. There are disagreements within my trust as to whether or not I can be furloughed. Is anyone here able to advise? Many thanks

If you are bank staff and there is no work for them to offer at the weekends then there is no work for you to sign up for. Presumably there are still weekday shifts available so work to be done and which can be done by bank staff so I cannot see on what basis the trust could possibly furlough you (though I'm not an expert on furlough).

if on the other hand you have a part time fixed hours (weekend) contract then they should pay you for the hours agreed, though in current crisis it would not be unreasonable of them to expect flexibility from you and ask you to do weekdays/ night.

garrynorris

Bank workers are a sizeable part of the NHS workforce. The bank was primarily set up to save the NHS money by building a "bank" of staff that meant they weren't reliant on much more expensive outside agency staff. 

It might be true that the NHS is still working but that doesn't help the individuals, that through no fault of their own, have been told to go home with no pay.

My wife is a bank worker what has been on the payroll with the NHS for 30 years and moved over to bank work when she reached 60 so she could do 4 days a week. She's done this for 5 years. She was told to go home instantly because they were closing her audit office due to Covid 19 despite having a bank contract for a further 3 months and sent home without any pay whatsoever.

It is disgraceful that the NHS / government should allow this when all the other NHS non essential personnel that have been told to go home are on full pay (Not the 80% the rest of us are on by the way).

What on earth are these people supposed to do? what do you think they feel like when they see all their colleagues in both the public and private sector in the same situation being protected. Even supply teachers which are an equivalent to NHS bank workers are being paid furlough. I think this is just mean and penny-pinching at best at worst it's discrimination against a section of the workforce who have just been abandoned.

Comms69

Speak to your union? 

I mean it's the NHS, surely people know it's heavily unionised. garrynorris said:

Bank workers are a sizeable part of the NHS workforce. The bank was primarily set up to save the NHS money by building a "bank" of staff that meant they weren't reliant on much more expensive outside agency staff. 

It might be true that the NHS is still working but that doesn't help the individuals, that through no fault of their own, have been told to go home with no pay.

My wife is a bank worker what has been on the payroll with the NHS for 30 years and moved over to bank work when she reached 60 so she could do 4 days a week. She's done this for 5 years. She was told to go home instantly because they were closing her audit office due to Covid 19 despite having a bank contract for a further 3 months and sent home without any pay whatsoever.

It is disgraceful that the NHS / government should allow this when all the other NHS non essential personnel that have been told to go home are on full pay (Not the 80% the rest of us are on by the way).

What on earth are these people supposed to do? what do you think they feel like when they see all their colleagues in both the public and private sector in the same situation being protected. Even supply teachers which are an equivalent to NHS bank workers are being paid furlough. I think this is just mean and penny-pinching at best at worst it's discrimination against a section of the workforce who have just been abandoned.

Manxman_in_exile

garrynorris said:

...
It is disgraceful that the NHS / government should allow this when all the other NHS non essential personnel that have been told to go home are on full pay (Not the 80% the rest of us are on by the way).
...

But isn't that the inevitable consequence of enjoying the flexibility of a bank contract as opposed to a substantive part-time contract?  The point of a bank contract is that you aren't guaranteed to be offered any work, but neither are you obliged to accept any offered to you.

I can understand that staff on substantive contracts may continue to be paid while bank staff may not.  Income from a bank contract can't be relied on in the same way as income from a substantive one.

garrynorris

Zero hours staff in the private sector are being paid under the furlough scheme. It is only NHS zero hours staff that are being refused help. Remember the outrage when Wetherspoons tried to send it’s Zero hours staff home with no pay? That was very quickly reversed.  I accept that Zero hours is no guarantee but where the government clearly understands that sudden termination of your employment due to the pandemic needs protection in the private sector then why should the NHS be any different? 

Manxman_in_exile

But your wife isn't in the private sector.

My original understanding of the furlough scheme was that it did not apply to the public sector in the first place.  (There's no sense in the government funding the furloughing of staff they already "pay" for anyway).

nicechap

garrynorris said:

Zero hours staff in the private sector are being paid under the furlough scheme. It is only NHS zero hours staff that are being refused help. Remember the outrage when Wetherspoons tried to send it’s Zero hours staff home with no pay? That was very quickly reversed.  I accept that Zero hours is no guarantee but where the government clearly understands that sudden termination of your employment due to the pandemic needs protection in the private sector then why should the NHS be any different? 

No, only those who won't work the shifts available. Bank staff typically are paid more per hour as it includes elements for annual leave and sick leave and compulsory training.  

UC is also available. If money is truly stretched maybe post your income & outgoings on the debt free wannabe boards, loads of help there.

General_Grant

nicechap said:

garrynorris said:

Zero hours staff in the private sector are being paid under the furlough scheme. It is only NHS zero hours staff that are being refused help. Remember the outrage when Wetherspoons tried to send it’s Zero hours staff home with no pay? That was very quickly reversed.  I accept that Zero hours is no guarantee but where the government clearly understands that sudden termination of your employment due to the pandemic needs protection in the private sector then why should the NHS be any different? 

No, only those who won't work the shifts available. Bank staff typically are paid more per hour as it includes elements for annual leave and sick leave and compulsory training.  

UC is also available. If money is truly stretched maybe post your income & outgoings on the debt free wannabe boards, loads of help there.

Not my understanding.  They are paid AfC rates and the allowance for paid leave is shown separately (whereas substantive posts simply get their regular pay when they take leave).