Furlough

fish241

Desperate for advice, my company are reopening 11th May and we will be taken off furlough. Now we had to give permission for the company to put us on furlough so we could be paid 80% of our wages, are we to give permission to take us off furlough, and where do i stand if i disagree to returning to work as personally i think is too early.
Can i be put left on furlough for a longer period, or until the government say it is safe to do so ? 

BrassicWoman

Hi, no, you have no right to be kept on furlough, sorry.

poppy12345

No, you don't need to give your permission to return to work. If there's work and you decide not to go then you won't get paid. Lots of people are continuing to work and have done since lockdown was put into place.

bradders1983

Can I ask what the OP does that he clearly thinks will be "unsafe"?

sharpe106

fish241 said:

Can i be put left on furlough for a longer period, or until the government say it is safe to do so ? 

The government has never said it is not safe to go to work. They have shut places where mass people meet but that was to stop the spread of the virus rather than protect the employees. They have quite clearly said you can go to work unless you can’t work from home. If nobody went to work because it was not safe, shops would not be open and the NHS staff would all be safely tucked up in bed.

unholyangel

No - there's no agreement necessary because you already agreed it whenever you agreed to your contract of employment. The furloughing needed agreement because it was a temporary variation of that agreement. 

PixelPound

poppy12345 said:

No, you don't need to give your permission to return to work. If there's work and you decide not to go then you won't get paid. Lots of people are continuing to work and have done since lockdown was put into place.

I suppose it depends on social circles, in that there will be some for whom everyone they know who was working has been furloughed. There are many still working just changed working environment. It's like if you call your bank, if it's normally a UK call centre, the person you speak to will be working from home.

If the OP is concerned they need to talk to their employer. Places like B&Q are ensuring their staff have PPE - to a higher standard than many care workers! (FFP2, eye goggles, etc).  An employer should be putting in measures to protect staff.

sharpe106

It is also going to go on for quite a while. Some experts say until next year, although granted probably a bit pessimistic you can't expect to be paid to sit at home for all that time.