Employer Not Taking up the Furlough Scheme

Darenth87

I am on a full time fixed term contract until Sept.  I joined the company in May 2019 for 6 months and that was extended to next sept and the business was flying along.   I am in a group of 3 on the same fixed term contract in an office of around 30 people who are all perm staff.   we are all working from home right now.   business has dropped off as expected (but not a ridiculous drop off and we are still as busy as ever) and we expect things to quickly get back to where we was before covid.   I had the call yesterday to say I am now on 1 months notice due to the reduction in income from COVID. the conversation ended with "the business will review the situation and we may well bring you back if things improve" and this is a nationwide decision thats been taken against all other employees at our regional offices that are on the same type of full time FTCs so we are all out on our ears from the end of May with no income.   Clearly those of us in our group of 3 on the FTC had the comfort of being employed for another 5 months yet thats been pulled from under us.  HR have not mentioned "furloughing" and I do not know if they have even applied for the government grant.  Am I right in thinking we should definitely should push back to HR and ask why we cannot be put on furlough given that its at no cost to the company?  Not sure where we stand legally and how much to push because it could mean the difference between keeping or losing homes.  I would rather get 80% pay than nothing with no immediate chance of finding alternative work either.  If anybody has been in this position or has advice on how to proceed it would be greatly appreciated.

bap98189

You can ask to be furloughed but the company doe not have to furlough you if they do not want to do so. I would contact either your manager o HR and request it, but ultimately if they say no all you can do is start looking for another job. 

Brynsam

Darenth87 said:

I am on a full time fixed term contract until Sept.  I joined the company in May 2019 for 6 months and that was extended to next sept and the business was flying along.   I am in a group of 3 on the same fixed term contract in an office of around 30 people who are all perm staff.   we are all working from home right now.   business has dropped off as expected (but not a ridiculous drop off and we are still as busy as ever) and we expect things to quickly get back to where we was before covid.   I had the call yesterday to say I am now on 1 months notice due to the reduction in income from COVID. the conversation ended with "the business will review the situation and we may well bring you back if things improve" and this is a nationwide decision thats been taken against all other employees at our regional offices that are on the same type of full time FTCs so we are all out on our ears from the end of May with no income.   Clearly those of us in our group of 3 on the FTC had the comfort of being employed for another 5 months yet thats been pulled from under us.  HR have not mentioned "furloughing" and I do not know if they have even applied for the government grant.  Am I right in thinking we should definitely should push back to HR and ask why we cannot be put on furlough given that its at no cost to the company?  Not sure where we stand legally and how much to push because it could mean the difference between keeping or losing homes.  I would rather get 80% pay than nothing with no immediate chance of finding alternative work either.  If anybody has been in this position or has advice on how to proceed it would be greatly appreciated.

Where you stand 'legally' is easy enough to answer: it is for the employer to decide whether or not to furlough. Sounds as if the business in question may not want to do that because it would be a lot of work to cover what they are hoping is a very short-term problem. That said, there's nothing at all to stop you asking HR if this is an option the company is considering, but to start talking about 'pushing back' isn't the way to go about persuading them to see it your way. You don't have right on your side, so 'reasonable but anxious' is more likely to get results. Fingers crossed for you!

jonnygee2

Am I right in thinking we should definitely should push back to HR and ask why we cannot be put on furlough given that its at no cost to the company?

There are a lot of companies doing redundancies or terminating contracts right now instead of or on top of furloughing. There could be a lot of different reasons for this, for example they might be applying for finance and need to demonstrate a reduction in costs, or they might be worried about furloughed staff accruing holiday and having to pay their notice periods later when they aren't needed. Whatever the reasons, it's their decision to make. 

You can certainly ask them, though, and try to convince them to furlough you and your colleagues instead.