Another furlough question!

Madfish

Hi, my wife worked a part time 17.5 hour contract at a nursery until the crisis began. On the 20th of March she was told by her boss there was no longer enough work and she would only be given 1 or 2 hours a day for cleaning. This was not worth her time and also would not provide enough money so she took the suggested option to terminate employment and hopefully get another role. Days later the scheme was announced and the other employees were furloughed, she was only paid up until the 20th March.
She has since contacted the employer to be re-employed to claim furlough but was told it is not possible. Are the employers obliged to re-employ?

She has also not recived a P45 so is potentially still employed by them?

poppy12345

No, not at all, it's entirely down to the employer whether they furlough or not.

Undervalued

Madfish said:

She has also not recived a P45 so is potentially still employed by them?

No! Sorry but P45s frequently get forgotten or lost. There is no chance of using that to try and claim she is still employed!

As Poppy has said they are not obliged to re-employ and furlough her if they don't want to.

Madfish

Thanks, according to the guidelines though she is entitled to qualify as she was an employee on the 28th feb and 19th March, basially pushed out the door before the announcement. All the other staff at the business have been furloughed.

daKlone

If she is no longer employed by the company, it is irrelevant.

It is entirely upto them if they want to re-hire her in order to furlough her, or to furlough her even if she was still an emplyee.

Sorry, there's no legal recourse.

Madfish

Thanks for the advice, we spoke to them today. It sounds like they have not issued a P45 yet. 

poppy12345

Madfish said:

Thanks, according to the guidelines though she is entitled to qualify

No, sorry but no one is entitled to qualify. As has already been said, it's entirely down to the employer. If they say no, there's nothing at all she can do.

Look at claiming Universal Credit, providing you don't have savings/capital of more than £16,000.

A claim for UC will end any tax credits you may already be claiming.

Or New style JSA providing she's paid enough NI contributions in tax years April 2017 to March 2019. It pays £74.35 (over 25's) for 26 weeks.

Undervalued

Madfish said:

Thanks, according to the guidelines though she is entitled to qualify as she was an employee on the 28th feb and 19th March, basially pushed out the door before the announcement. All the other staff at the business have been furloughed.

She may well be but that doesn't mean her former employer has to take her back and do it! What has happened to the other staff is irrelevant.

Undervalued

Madfish said:

Thanks for the advice, we spoke to them today. It sounds like they have not issued a P45 yet. 

Even so it is very, very unlikely she could use that to argue she is still employed.