Desperate help needed! My employer has rejected furlough request

RossFamily

First of all I understand this may have been asked before but it's so busy here it's hard to find a post relating to this, plus I'm extremely desperate and the help I had from here last time helped me buy my house I'm living in now so I know you people know your stuff . Any way here we go... my husband is working away and staying away for us as we have a 10 month old and a 4 year old. I cant got back to work because I dont have anyone that can look after the children, my 4 year old can go to school but I have got no one to look after my 10month old and both of the grand parents are high risk and are self isolating for 12 weeks. At first I spoke to my boss (I woke in care) and asked if there was anything I could do about the situation I was in and she said I can use my annual leave, but 2 days later the government changed the guidelines on furlough to include parents with caring responsibilities. So after I found this out about 3 days later I asked my boss if she could ask hr if I could be furloughed instead. 4 or 5 days later I got a reply from my boss saying HR has decilne my request and told me I need to go on unpaid parental leave. So I asked my boss for the HRs details so I could speak to them and ask why they cant furlough me. Unfortunately she would not give me the details and told me she would ask for me instead and email me their response. 30 mins later she sent me an email saying furlough is optional and at the discretion of the employer and they cannot furlough me as I'm not high risk and neither are my children. Is there any thing I can do? I love my job but because of this situation its impossible for me to get to work. I honestly thought they would help me in a time off need after nearly 2 years of service 

sharpe106

It is not always a case of helping or not. The criteria keeps changing basically hourly and what is and what is not an acceptable claim is pretty much a grey areas. Politicians are saying you can claim for pretty much anything the policy and the treasure directive say different things. So it is hardly surprising that companies are not too willing to apply for it and have it turned down. They also have to be fair to the other staff, how would you like it if you were working potentially harder risking getting the virus and your colleague was sat at home on 80% pay.

RossFamily

@sharpe106 I totally understand your reply and that is why I waited 3 days until I asked my employer because I understand this is not a normal situation and I understand that it's not straightforward, so I tried everything in my power to get back to work and not asked to be furloughed. But when something like this happens I thought my firm would be more understanding. I want to go back to work because I want to help the people in the home i work in but its physical impossible unless i leave my 10month old at home. So the chances of me losing my house that I worked so hard for has risen so high that I'm really starting to become  scared because I cant earn the money we need because of something that is totally out of my hands. Especially when you know that your employer can support you but choose not too. I'm absolutely gutted 

7Phil

Firstly, please don't overestimate my abilities as a poster. I definitely could not help you buy a house

1. I think it is unfair your manager has refused you access to speak to your HR department. All employees should have access to request a meeting with HR, or someone else independent to their manager if they do not feel any situation about their employment is being satisfactorily dealt with by their manager. Not only should you already have those details but you should be given them on request.
2. They are correct in saying if they do not want to furlough you then you can't be. Furlough is at the agreement of the employer and the employee (however I do think you should speak to someone other than your manager). All the government has said is that furlough eligibility is extended to "to include parents with caring responsibilities", but not that they must be. The clause about mutual agreement still remains.
3. You are correct in that it is not wise to have the grandparents care for the 10month old - even the medial guidelines say not to do that.

All the above points put you in an impossible situation. Apart from paid time off, all you can reasonably expect is unpaid parental leave. In this case you can only be thankful of being allowed to do that and keeping a job to return to when you can.

I guess the only piece of missing information is whether you have spoken to your husband about whether you can afford to take unpaid leave and if you two can make ends meet?? You absolutely need to put family first especially in a global crisis.

I'm sorry I cannot give more helpful information and hope someone else can add something I have missed.

RossFamily

Also I know this might desperation rather than logical thinking but my manager has a track record for questionable actions. A co worker gave my manager her maternity leave form and it got "lost" until there was a leak in the office and the form was in her desk draw, also another co worker arranged to change her hours due to having a new child through text and my boss deleted them all and said she didn't receive any text even though you could clearly see my co workers texts on her phone. So it does make me wonder why she wouldn't give me the HRs details and only supply me with quoted comments from them is this even aloud. I feel so naive that's I do not know my own rights but this seems so unfair. P.S. I dont mean to sound like a typical millennial winging and whinging but I feel like this is very unjust in the 21st century 

sharpe106

Does your boss have a manager? If so you could maybe try talking to them.

RossFamily

@7Phil unfortunately if we had a choice my husband wouldn't be working if he didn't have to but we cant afford him not working and unfortunately at this precise moment we are not in a position for me not to work. Thank god for the mortgage holiday otherwise we would be homeless in 2 months. I know people will be think you should have more saving ect but we have only just brought our house and had a second baby plus our car broke so this is the worst possible timing ever but hopefully we can get through it and most off all I would rather be healthy and homeless rather than have a roof over my head but have a person missing from my life

RossFamily

sharpe106 said:

Does your boss have a manager? If so you could maybe try talking to them.

I work in a care home and my manager has many above her but will not let me talk to anyone I'm really at a dead end on what to do. I've been trying to find my contract but I got it two years ago which was before I moved so I need to look through my boxes in the loft 

7Phil

Absolutely you are right in your suspicions. What you said in your first post about her did rang big alarm bells in my mind. No manager can rightfully refuse you access to the company's HR team/contact and the fact that she says you have to deal with them via her is plainly wrong.

I know you have come on here for quick answers but all I can give you is reassurance at the moment. Firstly: Look after your family first. The rest of the things can be fixed.
Second don't worry about the house - I can't see how you are going to lose it just right now. You have options.
Thirdly; yep - life is definitely tough and unfair and so many people are suffering and dealing with immense loss. All people of all walks of life. Try not to dwell on it this weekend, you will be able to find a solution.

7Phil

Your manager cannot be the only one in the care home
Is there any one else around you that you can talk to as well? Is there a number or email address on your payslip?
Does your care home have a website, a reception or a public contact point that you can talk to and ask?

RossFamily

7Phil said:

Your manager cannot be the only one in the care home
Is there any one else around you that you can talk to as well? Is there a number or email address on your payslip?
Does your care home have a website, a reception or a public contact point that you can talk to and ask?

I have tried ringing head office from a website I found but HR was closed due to the virus. I'm unsure whether to ask a friend at work because I dont want to hinder my employment as some of the service users are like family i know it sounds silly but I dont want to get the sack if someone tells my manager, if that is possible. Also I didn't mean to sound so down on the last post my position could definitely be much worse and we will all get through it in the end that is what the great british people do including the people who live here from other origins/places ect. That's why I think its shocked me so much because a country I had believed is the forefront of fairness for it's people are letting people slip through the net and suffer hugely but I also appreciate that these are not normal times and it must be hard for everyone