Employers furlough rejected.

northumerlandi88

Hello, It’s my first time posting on here, any insight is appreciated.

My partner is a Chef on a full time 45 hours a week contact which began at the end of January and was furloughed from 20/03 and accepted conditions of furlough on 30/03 and was advised by her employer that she would be getting 80% of her wages. She received the first months furlough pay but was then told yesterday- the day before her normal pay day- that the furlough application has been rejected and that she will receive no further pay. She is however still a contracted employee- Her employer has offered to go to zero hours or to be made redundant, which I think means release her from her contract without compensation.

Her employers have advised that their application has been rejected due to missing a deadline for application due to complications. She is on PAYE and on my understanding does qualify for the furlough pay based on employment dates and other parameters set out on gov.uk. Does anyone know what rights she has if someone else’s negligence has led to her suddenly having no pay, or where she can go for advice?

poppy12345

Is it possible they realised how much it cost them to furlough her and have now decided against it? No body has any rights to be furloughed, it's the employers decision whether or not they chose to do this. As she's worked there for less than 2 years then i doubt that there's much she can do.

Jeremy535897

If her employer has amended her contract of employment to reduce her pay to 80% of her reference salary, that is what they are obliged to pay. Whether they can recover it from HMRC is irrelevant, unless her furlough agreement stated that if they didn't get the claim, they could recover the amount from her (in this case by not paying her in the first place).

sharpe106

She has the right to the pay up to now even if the employer is not able to claim it back as that is what was signed. But going forward as the employer says she has a choice either go on to a zero hour contract or be made redundant. 

Grumpy_chap

She should be paid up until now, but as a new starter she has few rights beyond now.  

To understand the furlough issue, it might help if you outlined all dates, from xx Jan, started employment and then every PAYE date and key notifications.  In 4 months it can't be that many dates.  The key date for qualifying for furlough is that an RTI submission was made before 20th March.  That would normally have happened if first PAYE date was 28th Feb.

I would not normally recommend this, but 'zero hours' might be the better choice over redundancy (assuming no redundancy or notice will be paid) as it keeps her linked to the business and sends the message that she is keen to return once the business re-opens.  She might well hate them right now, but keeping the option of work to return to has a value.

Dottydoolay

Firstly I would like to send my thoughts at a time that is a terrible situation to get to practically pay day and find out you have nothing.

Sadly there is as far as I’m aware nothing that can be done regarding the employers accidental non compliance to claim furlough correctly.  

If the employer was even not to bother claiming at all there is still nothing that can be done to enforce anything for payments as it’s all employers choice.

For final info and clarification going forward I would suggest ringing the ACAS helpline but I feel a zero hour contract and a hopeful UC claim will be the only advice. 

Thrugelmir

Sounds as if the employer is trying to break the bad news as gently as they are able. Furlough is only a stop gap. Not an answer to the difficulties that the business has to address. 
Think creatively is there a way your partner can use their skills to generate some income. 

Icequeen1

northumerlandi88 said:

Hello, It’s my first time posting on here, any insight is appreciated.

My partner is a Chef on a full time 45 hours a week contact which began at the end of January and was furloughed from 20/03 and accepted conditions of furlough on 30/03 and was advised by her employer that she would be getting 80% of her wages. She received the first months furlough pay but was then told yesterday- the day before her normal pay day- that the furlough application has been rejected and that she will receive no further pay. She is however still a contracted employee- Her employer has offered to go to zero hours or to be made redundant, which I think means release her from her contract without compensation.

Her employers have advised that their application has been rejected due to missing a deadline for application due to complications. She is on PAYE and on my understanding does qualify for the furlough pay based on employment dates and other parameters set out on gov.uk. Does anyone know what rights she has if someone else’s negligence has led to her suddenly having no pay, or where she can go for advice?

There isn't a deadline for applications - if the first payment was made, that suggests that the main conditions were met. Beyond that,  there isn't a deadline for application as such - employers could claim 3 months in one go. There are some tricky rules around pay periods/claim periods - perhaps they did the claim and missed your partner off by accident. If they did, they can't go back and make another claim for the same period (currently, although hmrc have said they may introduce a facility to amend claims)

Dottydoolay

The employers could have made the first payment from their own pockets awaiting the scheme kicking in though like many did? 

They may well not have the funds going forward now if they have indeed claimed incorrectly/not claimed at all.