Furlough eligibility

KtStu77

My 17 year old daughter works for a cafe 10 hours a week which has been closed until recently but now does a takeaway breakfast menu however she has not been asked to work. She is paid cash in hand and has never received a wage slip in the 12 months she has worked there.
Her employer states that due to her age and number of hours she works , she is not entitled to any pay while unable to work .
Is anyone able to confirm whether this is correct?

poppy12345

To be eligible for furlough your employer must have sent the RTI by 19th March. If this wasn't done then she won't be able to be furloughed. If she's paid "cash in hand" it's unlikey that she can be furloughed.

KtStu77

Why can’t she be furloughed if she’s paid cash in hand ? 

poppy12345

You must be on the payroll and the RTI must have been sent by 19th March. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-cut-off-date-extended-to-19-march

Even if she could be furloughed it's entirely the employers decision whether they chose to furlough her and if they decide not to there's nothing she can do.

unholyangel

While your daughter probably isn't making enough money working 10 hours to require mandatory reporting if she is the only employee...if any employee was mandatory earning level then your daughter would need to be included. 

That being said, even being in RTI doesn't obligate the employer to furlough. 

unholyangel

poppy12345 said:

You must be on the payroll and the RTI must have been sent by 19th March. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-cut-off-date-extended-to-19-march

Even if she could be furloughed it's entirely the employers decision whether they chose to furlough her and if they decide not to there's nothing she can do.

You can be paid cash and still be reporting earnings. Many small cash businesses do it to save banking fees. 

KtStu77

The fact that she’s been told by her employer she isn’t entitled to furlough due to her age and number of hours worked makes me wonder if something isn’t right . All employees are paid cash in hand not just her . Maybe it’s best that she finds a different place to work .

Grumpy_chap

Who says it is because of her age and number of hours worked?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

KtStu77 said:

The fact that she’s been told by her employer she isn’t entitled to furlough due to her age and number of hours worked makes me wonder if something isn’t right . All employees are paid cash in hand not just her . Maybe it’s best that she finds a different place to work .

That isn't a valid reason.

The employer can furlough her if they wish as that is entirely the employers choice.

But the employer won't be able to claim CJRS in respect of your daughter if they haven't been filing Real Time Information reports for her.

Not being able to claim CJRS is likely to mean they would be unwilling to furlough her as they (her employer) would then have to suffer the full cost of her wages with nothing from the government.

She can check her Personal Tax Account on gov.uk to see what (if any) Real Time Information reports have been filed for the current tax year and last year.

Jeremy535897

If she was working 10 hours a week on minimum wage in 2019/20 she will have been earning £43.50 a week, well below the LEL of £118 a week. If all the employees were paid under the LEL, my suspicion is that the employer has no payroll registered with HMRC at all, and I think that is still OK, unless for example an employee had another job.