Have paid tax but don't qualify for furlough due to admin error - any advice please?

Ellkat73

I started work for my employer in January of this year.  He was quite ill at the time of taking me on, which in fact was his reason for doing so.  He had problems with his accountant and changed firms because of this, but due to a genuine oversight even though he had been paying me, I was not on the PAYE RTI system prior to the 19th March.  As soon as he realised this was the case he contacted HMRC and paid everything in full, but it looks like his application to furlough me has been rejected.  Is there anything I can do as he does not have the money to pay me and without this scheme I will lose my job.  It is a tiny business that does not have the capacity to keep me on without this help.  Any advice would be gratefully received.  Thanks in advance.

unholyangel

I don't believe there are any exceptions. They've even updated the guidance to make clear that annually paid directors will not qualify if they were not paid an amount for the 19/20 year which was submitted under RTI to hmrc on/before 19th march. 

Would he qualify for any of the business loan schemes? 

Ellkat73

unholyangel said:

I don't believe there are any exceptions. They've even updated the guidance to make clear that annually paid directors will not qualify if they were not paid an amount for the 19/20 year which was submitted under RTI to hmrc on/before 19th march. 

Would he qualify for any of the business loan schemes? 

Thanks for your reply.  It doesn't seem right that I have paid my tax, yet am entitled to nothing.  I have never been out of work.  These schemes would have been fairer if it had looked at the tax an individual has paid and everyone given a liveable wage rather than paying some thousands and others nothing.  It also doesn't seem right asking businesses to go into debt, when I have seen some local businesses whose income has increased due to the crisis being given grants and other businesses who have generated no income whatsoever due to being in the tourism and leisure sector have been given nothing.  

Superstringbags

My daughter was working in a pub until lockdown. She was made redundant but has since requested to be furloughed. Her employer has agreed to do this and confirmed that she qualifies, but says because they have already made their claim for other employees, she cannot be added on and therefore will not be furloughed. I can't find any information about the claims process that says employers can only make one claim.

bradders1983

Indeed, the employer is talking guff.

calcotti

Superstringbags said:

My daughter was working in a pub until lockdown. She was made redundant but has since requested to be furloughed. Her employer has agreed to do this and confirmed that she qualifies, but says because they have already made their claim for other employees, she cannot be added on and therefore will not be furloughed. I can't find any information about the claims process that says employers can only make one claim.

An employer cannot make more than one claim for the same time period and cannot amend a claim once submitted.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#how-to-claim

You cannot make more than one claim during a claim period - - this means you should include all of the employees that you want to furlough for that claim period, because you will not be able to make another claim for the same period or one that overlaps.
You must claim for all employees in each period at one time – you cannot make changes to your claim. It is not possible to amend a claim once it is submitted. HMRC are looking to develop a process to allow for amendments to be made.

The last sentence offers some hope that it may be possible to make an amendment in the future.

They could furlough her for future periods they have not yet claimed for.

calcotti

bradders1983 said:

Indeed, the employer is talking guff.

No they are not, they appear to be correct.

mattyprice4004

For both questions asked, it sucks but unfortunately furlough is entirely optional on the part of the employer - so if for any reason they don't want to put you on it, they don't have to. 

It doesn't matter if it's an admin error, an oversight or any other reason - if they don't want to put people on furlough there's no way to force them to.

Ellkat73

mattyprice4004 said:

For both questions asked, it sucks but unfortunately furlough is entirely optional on the part of the employer - so if for any reason they don't want to put you on it, they don't have to. 

It doesn't matter if it's an admin error, an oversight or any other reason - if they don't want to put people on furlough there's no way to force them to.

To be fair my employer wanted to furlough me, but he has not even had a response to his application.  It does not seem right to be penalising employees for a very innocent admin error.  If the government are truly trying to protect jobs and the economy there would be an appeals process at least for these kind of situations.

sharpe106

All they could do is try and contact somebody and explain it to them, there is no appeal process.