Bank Holiday Pay whilst on unpaid leave of absence

topb1rd77

Hi,
My partner works for a property maintenance company and received an email on 23/03/2020 to say that the company were locking down and he would be on 'furlough' for 3 weeks, which we've only just received pay for yesterday. He received a phone call from his boss saying that he was required to do 'non-essential' work in a social housing/residential home for 4 days, 14/04-17/04, then he would be put on furlough for a further 3 weeks. My partner refused to do this work due to the location so we have now received an email stating that from 14/04/20 my partner is on unpaid leave of absence instead of furlough.
I have queried the Bank Holiday pay as we need some money, the reply I received was that we would receive the Bank Holiday pay at a reduced rate of 80%.
I have searched all the Gov website and cannot find out if this is correct? Could someone answer me and if this is incorrect possibly send me a link to read in black and white that I can forward to his employers?
Thank You

Undervalued

Yes, furlough or not is the employer's choice. If he refuses work then at best he is on unpaid leave or could even be disciplined.

Holiday - there is nothing special in employment law about bank holidays. An employer can tell you when you can and cannot take your holiday. If it was treated as a day out of his holiday then yes he should get full pay. However it it wasn't holiday then he gets the furlough rate but still has the day's holiday to take at another time. It is the employer's choice.

topb1rd77

So how could he be disciplined if he refused to do 'non-essential' work during lockdown?
My partner gets 20 days holiday + 8 Bank Holidays for the year so I just need to know if this one days BH pay will be 80% or do they have to pay him a full day?

LilElvis

There's no distinction between essential or non-essential work. It's the same as it always is - refuse to work and you're likely to be dismissed.

Undervalued

topb1rd77 said:

So how could he be disciplined if he refused to do 'non-essential' work during lockdown?
My partner gets 20 days holiday + 8 Bank Holidays for the year so I just need to know if this one days BH pay will be 80% or do they have to pay him a full day?

If it is phrased like that it helps you a bit but ultimately it is down to the employer. His legal right is to 28 days holiday per year and the employer can decide which days.

As LilElvis has said, this concept of "non-essential" work doesn't exist. Certain business are prohibited from opening to the public, although even they can do some behind the scenes work. All other business can work, as I said from home if possible, but otherwise at the factory / office / whatever.

So you can have a silly hat making company and insist that the staff come to their machines and churn out silly hats, rather than furlough them if that is what the company chooses to do!

topb1rd77

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

Undervalued

topb1rd77 said:

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

Quite possibly.

But we are just telling you what the law is which may not be the same as some people would like it to be.

It is a balance between saving lives and saving the economy. Can you honestly say that you have done nothing at all during this lockdown that didn't directly or indirectly rely on somebody doing a "non-essential" job? If everybody was cut down to war time rations a lot of food manufacturers and supermarket workers could have stayed at home. Where do you draw the line?

Jeremy535897

topb1rd77 said:

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

I think chocolate and other junk food, cigarettes and alcohol are non-essential, but there are probably a lot of people who would disagree with me.

LilElvis

Jeremy535897 said:

topb1rd77 said:

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

I think chocolate and other junk food, cigarettes and alcohol are non-essential, but there are probably a lot of people who would disagree with me.

Alcohol sales are actually prohibited during the lockdown in South Africa. My friend is getting quite antsy as he's down to his last couple of dozen cans of Black Label and his wife is controlling how much he drinks from the case of whiskey he bought. Mind you, as he's a wine distributor, he can always get stuck into the 27,000 bottles of wine he has in storage sheds at the end of his garden. 

LilElvis

topb1rd77 said:

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

Because we need a functioning economy to pay for the weeks you spent on furlough watching Netflix at the State's expense. It's not rocket science.

epm-84

Jeremy535897 said:

topb1rd77 said:

So what is the point of lockdown then? If people can't work from home then they can still be made to go to work...that is not going to help the country stop spreading this evil disease!!! Non-essential work should be made to close down until given further instructions from the Government and employees should not be punished for putting their lives, and that of their families, at risk by unsympathetic employers.

I think chocolate and other junk food, cigarettes and alcohol are non-essential, but there are probably a lot of people who would disagree with me.

When I had a blood test taken not that long ago my blood sugar level dropped significantly and I passed out.  The advice I was given by the nurse was not to leave the clinic until I had eaten something high in sugar, like a chocolate bar.

Banning the sale of junk food would be interesting.  Would you be allowed to walk out of a shop with a bag of potatoes if you intend to cut them in to chips and fry them?