Job loss

Doug145

My daughter is register relief with a care company. She has been with them 3yrs and worked every day . So now she’s been out of work as they say they don’t qualify for forlough to give her. She has now had to go to food banks to survive. Can they do this?

yksi

Yes, because nobody is entitled to be furloughed. It is at the employer's discretion and it costs them money to keep her on payroll. The furlough system is specifically to protect jobs, so if a company does not believe the job or company will still be economical once the furlough system ends, they are acting "correctly" by denying her.

poppy12345

Is she on a zero hours contract? Has she looked at claiming Universal Credit? Tell her to use a benefits calculator to see what she maybe entitled too.

A claim for UC will end any tax credits she may already be claiming. Council tax reduction can be claimed from the local council.

Grumpy_chap

Is it a Council or private care company?  If a private care company are they funded by public sector anyway?  There are restrictions on public sector and furlough, someone else on here may be able to give the details of those rules as I am not entirely sure.

Even if she would be eligible for furlough and the company is able to claim, it is still up to the company whether they choose to use the scheme or not.  Sadly, your daughter is not entitled to be furloughed, simply because no-one is specifically entitled, only eligible at the employer's discretion.

Your daughter's contract of employment remains in force, so any rights she has under that are still valid.  She may have accrued holiday that she can take now to keep some income for a while.

Failing that, it is JSA, UC, or whatever saving she has.  

The only thing is, though, all the care companies seem to be really busy and recruiting.  There may be some specific and genuine reason why your daughters' company are not busy, but can she visit local care homes and look for work, register at local hospitals and Council?  Where I live, they are crying out for carers.

sharpe106

Surely other similar companies are recruiting.