Can Agency nurses be furloughed

nhavie

Can agency nurses be furloughed. My umbrella company is telling that because of government directives l cannot but l have been unable to get any work because of reduced admissions in hospital they are using in house staff

Andy_L

Yes, but as the decision to furlough is entirely at the employers (ie agency's) discretion it is a moot point

dylwms

My wife is a bank health care for an NHS Trust and has to shield for 12 weeks. She has been flat out refused furlough and been paid a basically a month's wage (what she had booked). Really disappointing and will be now relying on universal credit

sharpe106

nhavie said:

Can agency nurses be furloughed. My umbrella company is telling that because of government directives l cannot but l have been unable to get any work because of reduced admissions in hospital they are using in house staff

Taken from the guidance

If you work for a public sector organisation

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.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

So in theory they can very few have done. Looking at other public sectors organisation workers on here with the exception of transport for London most HR departments have told them that they can’t be furloughed. No idea why they seemed to have been a special case, especially as they got extra money anyway. Although very few agencies are furlough people anyway as it costs them. The best thing she can probably do is have a look to see if eligible for any benefits

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

sharpe106

dylwms said:

My wife is a bank health care for an NHS Trust and has to shield for 12 weeks. She has been flat out refused furlough and been paid a basically a month's wage (what she had booked). Really disappointing and will be now relying on universal credit

 

Is she eligible for SSP?

 https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/entitlement