My employer won't Furlough me

Mystical_Temptress

I've been working as a Bank Support Worker for the Richmond Fellowship Scotland for over a year and on average I work 40-50 hours per week. I have received a shielding letter from the government and I'm unable to work for 12 weeks and I've had to claim SSP as I'm being told I cant be furloughed as the company is Gov Funded... surely this isn't correct?

Jeremy535897

See guidance to employers:

"Public sector organisations

The government expects that the scheme will not be used by many public sector organisations, as most public sector employees are continuing to provide essential public services or contribute to the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Where employers receive public funding for staff costs, and that funding is continuing, we expect employers to use that money to continue to pay staff in the usual fashion – and correspondingly not furlough them. This also applies to non-public sector employers who receive public funding for staff costs.

Organisations who are receiving public funding specifically to provide services necessary to respond to COVID-19 are not expected to furlough staff.

In a small number of cases, for example where organisations are not primarily funded by the government and whose staff cannot be redeployed to assist with the coronavirus response, the scheme may be appropriate for some staff."

In these circumstances, where SSP applies the employer would not be expected to furlough (there is some doubt as to whether any employer can furlough an employee entitled to SSP, because the guidance and the underlying Treasury Directive seem to say different things.

gary83

There’s no automatic entitlement to furlough, a shielding letter/childcare problems or anything else along those lines are irrelevant if the company doesn’t want to furlough you. Have they furloughed any other employees?

Jeremy535897

As Gary says, you can't push an employer into furloughing you, and as they say, they probably wouldn't be allowed to. I don't think Martin Lewis has ever suggested they can. The Treasury Direction is just another layer of (in this case unhelpful) complexity. I am as sure as I can be that SSP is the best you can do.

Thrugelmir

With the bank work presumably you choose what hours that you actually work that you get offered. You have the right to decline. 

Undervalued

Mystical_Temptress said:

gary83 said:

There’s no automatic entitlement to furlough, a shielding letter/childcare problems or anything else along those lines are irrelevant if the company doesn’t want to furlough you. Have they furloughed any other employees?

Not that I'm aware of Gary.... it's not that they don't want to furlough me they are telling me they cant... other contractual staff members who need time of due to underlying health issues are receiving there full contractual pay, even if a new contractual staff member hasn't been there for the time needed to be entitled to full pay if absent from work they have changed there entitlement so they are getting a full wage also.... seemingly it's only us public sector Bank workers who  are falling through a crack in the pavement so to speak....

Without wishing to sound harsh, given that this is (as far as I am aware) a charity I do wonder if paying staff charity funds, over and above their legal entitlement, is a proper use of the charity's resources? 

Mystical_Temptress

Undervalued said:

Mystical_Temptress said:

gary83 said:

There’s no automatic entitlement to furlough, a shielding letter/childcare problems or anything else along those lines are irrelevant if the company doesn’t want to furlough you. Have they furloughed any other employees?

Not that I'm aware of Gary.... it's not that they don't want to furlough me they are telling me they cant... other contractual staff members who need time of due to underlying health issues are receiving there full contractual pay, even if a new contractual staff member hasn't been there for the time needed to be entitled to full pay if absent from work they have changed there entitlement so they are getting a full wage also.... seemingly it's only us public sector Bank workers who  are falling through a crack in the pavement so to speak....

Without wishing to sound harsh, given that this is (as far as I am aware) a charity I do wonder if paying staff charity funds, over and above their legal entitlement, is a proper use of the charity's resources? 

Hey you're not sounding harsh at all..... 🙂 and if I could I'd still be working... I don't know about it being a charity, they just keep telling me that they are Gov funded....