Furlough back pay!?

MariaJones1

I am on a flexible contract and agreed with my employer, on 22nd March (the day before the official lockdown was announced), that I won't be working anymore because of the pandemic and she agreed. She has since tried to ring me multiple times, however, with so much stress in my life, I hadn't got round to getting back to her. I messaged her yesterday and found out she was trying to get in contact with me to claim me on the furlough scheme. She said she will ask what can be done now, but doesn't think I will be able to be back paid. I'm confused as to why she needed to get in touch with me when we'd already agreed that I wouldn't be working... Surely she should have claimed me on the furlough scheme automatically? Anyway, after some research on this site, I've found that:
(a) 10th June = the cut-off date for starting staff on furlough
(b) Staff must be furloughed for 3 weeks prior to 30th June to be eligible
(c) 31st July is the employer cut off to make claims for any period of furlough
However, surely I do not class as a newly furloughed staff member, considering me and my employer agreed I would not be working since the beginning of lockdown. Does anyone know if a backlogged claim will be accepted? If my employer submits a claim by the 31st July, will I be able to receive back pay from the beginning of lockdown? 
Thanks in advance and please pray for me that I can get the back pay because God knows I need it!

Dr_Crypto

No she shouldn't register you automatically. You had stopped working. To re-hire you would be by mutual consent. 
Looks like you should have answered the phone. 

sharpe106

All that was agreed when you went of was that you were not working furlough was not agreed by the sounds of it. To furlough somebody you need the agreement of the person, as they had tried contacting you and you did not respond how could they furlough you?
What was agreed when you went off on the 22nd? 

MariaJones1

My wording was a bit misleading, I hadn't terminated my contract! Like I said, it's a flexible contract. I often take weeks off without much notice to visit my family etc. So, I was still hired, we just agreed that I'd stop working temporarily with the pandemic getting worse.

MariaJones1

Dr_Crypto said:

No she shouldn't register you automatically. You had stopped working. To re-hire you would be by mutual consent. 
Looks like you should have answered the phone. 

My wording was a bit misleading, I hadn't terminated my contract! Like I said, it's a flexible contract. I often take weeks off without much notice to visit my family etc. So, I was still hired, we just agreed that I'd stop working temporarily with the pandemic getting worse.

Grumpy_chap

You agreed with her not to work.  In the absence of anything else, that would be unpaid leave.
You can only go on furlough if the employer agrees that with the employee.  
The latest date for new furlough was 10th June so it is likely you cannot now go on furlough and be back-dated.  If the employer has run a pay-roll since 22nd March (which I strongly suspect they will have) then back-dated furlough claim is virtually impossible because the employer can only submit one furlough claim for each period.
This sounds like it was entirely your fault as you state in the OP that the employer tried to get in touch with you multiple times and, for whatever reason, you failed to respond.
What have you done financially since 22nd March?

Dr_Crypto

Ah ok. That is different. But you can only be furloughed with your consent and she wasn't able to contact you to get it. The deadline was indeed 10th June so you might be out of luck, sadly. 

sharpe106

When you agreed to stop working what was agreed then ?as to me it sounds like you agreed to stop working for no pay and she has since tried contacting you so she could furlough you, 

MariaJones1

Grumpy_chap said:

You agreed with her not to work.  In the absence of anything else, that would be unpaid leave.
You can only go on furlough if the employer agrees that with the employee.  
The latest date for new furlough was 10th June so it is likely you cannot now go on furlough and be back-dated.  If the employer has run a pay-roll since 22nd March (which I strongly suspect they will have) then back-dated furlough claim is virtually impossible because the employer can only submit one furlough claim for each period.
This sounds like it was entirely your fault as you state in the OP that the employer tried to get in touch with you multiple times and, for whatever reason, you failed to respond.
What have you done financially since 22nd March?

I only recently learned what furlough meant so didn't realise it needed formal agreement, I thought I could be classed as furloughed with our agreement of me not working! I can now see with these replies that this isn't the case. She's going to ask the accountants, but I can now see with all these replies that I shouldn't be too hopeful. I haven't done anything financially since March and have been supported by my amazing family. Thank you everyone!

MariaJones1

sharpe106 said:

All that was agreed when you went of was that you were not working furlough was not agreed by the sounds of it. To furlough somebody you need the agreement of the person, as they had tried contacting you and you did not respond how could they furlough you?
What was agreed when you went off on the 22nd? 

Ah I didn't know it needed agreement! (Who would disagree with being paid for not working? Haha) Thank you for your reply. It was a brief conversation where I said I wouldn't be working for the foreseeable future because the pandemic is getting too intense and she understood and agreed. I'm definitely not hopeful of back pay with all of these replies though. Oh and I didn't respond because I feared my mum was going to die this lockdown and as you can imagine I've had some mental obstacles.

Grumpy_chap

She might be able to review and back-date a claim as far back as the last pay-roll (assume that was end of May), so from 1st June, but I understand that would need you and her to have agreed in writing before 10th June.  So, a letter dated before 10th June and signed by you both needs to exist.  Maybe the Accountant will come up with a good idea.