Furlough denied

skintymcginty72

Please help, my company are refusing to furlough me and I believe the deadline for new applications is 10th June. I had been off sick with a condition recognised as a disability prior to Covid and receiving the letter from the government advising to me to shield. My company sick pay ran out in March and I have been receiving SSP since and requesting work furlough me and they have repeatedly refused stating “ the company has decided not to take up the Government Furlough Scheme”. Can they do this?

TIA

neilmcl

Yes they can do this. Furlough is entirely optional as far as your employer is concerned.

sam8787

If you had a disability prior to covid then why have you not been signed off as disabled and claim benefits instead? 

poppy12345

sam8787 said:

If you had a disability prior to covid then why have you not been signed off as disabled and claim benefits instead? 

SSP is being claimed and will continue for 28 weeks, which is correct.  OP maybe entitled to Universal Credit alongside the SSP BUT this will depend on the circumstances. Using a benefit calcutlator will tell them whether they're entitled to anything https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

A claim for UC will end any tax credits they may already be claiming.

sharpe106

So are you now fit to go back to work? or is SSP running out? If fit to go back to work why can't you and if SSP is running out you might be abe to get ESA.

poppy12345

sharpe106 said:

So are you now fit to go back to work? or is SSP running out?

OP said they've been claiming SSP since March and that's not 28 weeks.

sharpe106

They said company sick pay ran out in march, a lot of companies will use SSP for a set amount of time and top it up. So SSP starts when they go off sick not when they stop paying sick pay. 

Becles

I'm shielding but was refused furlough. There's nothing you can do about it.
You either have to claim benefits and deal with the financial difficulty of huge reduction in income or ignore the shielding letter and go back to work.

skintymcginty72

Wow.... not sure why anyone would assume that someone with a disability would just claim benefits! I choose to work and didn’t choose my medical condition. My union representative tells me that new government guidelines state that anyone who must shield and is not able to carry out normal duties should be furloughed. I have worked all my life so why shouldn’t I be furloughed?

skintymcginty72

Perhaps I should go back to work and risk catching Covid and potential death, at least my family would get death in service.... unbelievable! 🤔

jimkelly

skintymcginty72 said:

I have worked all my life so why shouldn’t I be furloughed?

Because the furlough scheme is for employers to use when there is no work available for their employees.

Your employer does have work available, so if they were to furlough you that would be against the rules/law of the scheme and they would open themselves up to action at a later date by HMRC re fraud.

That being said, you have a valid point that needs addressing - albeit you requesting/demanding to be furloughed is not the answer.