going abroad and furlough

aggi

Hi all,
can not find answer anywhere and I do realise it is a bit cheeky but...., can you go abroad while furlough or do you have to take annual leave to do that? 
We may be facing redundancy after furlough so trying to save as many paid days as possible. Going abroad is to see family 😊

Thank you

Jeremy535897

You would have to discuss this with your employer. You are supposed to be available for work when on furlough. It is holiday, and I would expect your employer to say as much. Presumably you are not talking of going somewhere with a 14 day quarantine.

Semple

You already know the answer...

The question is, if you're abroad and your employer phones you up and says he needs you back in the following day, what are you going to do? 

If the business you work in is completely shut down then the risk might be small, but only you can make that judgement. 

The point of furlough is that you're essentially still working albeit not carrying out any duties for your employer. They have the right to recall you into work at any time. 

Semple

aggi said:

We may be facing redundancy after furlough so trying to save as many paid days as possible.

Oh Fwiw saving "paid days" doesn't necessarily mean you'll get them in addition to redundancy payout. Your employer could insist you use them all up as part of your notice period. 

jimkelly

"This is a national emergency, not a national holiday."

Welsh Police and crime commissioner, Dafydd Llewelyn

phillw

aggi said:

can you go abroad while furlough or do you have to take annual leave to do that? 

They won't stop you at customs & I don't think the government is capable of linking up IT systems & so I doubt your passport will trigger an alert.
If you can work remotely then I don't particularly see that going abroad is an issue, if you can't then you better take your private plane so you can get back sharpish.

Biscuit49

I guess you cant blame people for wanting to maximise their time and do it so it is better for them.

Where my wife works she has staff on Furlough. She has advised them they may be required to do some part time work over the next few weeks as they look to get people back to work, under the rules allowed of course.

One staff member has said ok, but when as there are some days I can't work. So she was told thats ok, let us have your holiday forms and we will book them in as annual leave so you don't have to work.

On receiving nothing contact was made to chase them up to meet the response, i'll let you have them when i know what days you need me to work, obviously not wanting to book a day off they may not be working anyway.

So she has been written to now with an enforced holiday to prevent holidays mounting up, which she is not happy about as her pay is being topped up to 100% anyway so in her eyes why should she be deducted holiday as she is no better off.

People can't have it all their own way, accruing holiday on furlough at full pay. just wants to not take any holidays so can take her full entitlement on return to work.

People need to understand that businesses are going to need people working when they get them back in, not lose them for 4 or 5 weeks for the remaining 3 or 4 months of the year.

Grumpy_chap

Furlough is there to provide support to the system (employer and employee) while there is no work to do because of coronavirus. 

It is reasonable that the employer could require the employee to return to work on short notice and that may be compromised if you are abroad (though might be acceptable if you can work remotely).  Especially if the employer is 'topping up' the 80% to full pay.

If you suspect there may be redundancies, then it is possible that asking this type of question will put you to the front of the redundancy queue.

Furlough is not free for the employer, they still need to meet the costs of your annual leave accruing even though you are not generating revenue and, from next month, the employer needs to contribute increasing amounts towards the furlough plus associated employment costs.

It is rather late to be asking this question, given how things are starting to open up now and people are returning to work.

The correct thing to do if you wish to take a trip overseas is to book annual leave just as you would have to if working.  If there is redundancy, the employer may require that you take annual leave in any case during the notice period.

Sanne

We’ve had that question come up at work (very international workforce) and the answer was - speak to your line manager/Director. As others have said, you need to be available when your employer needs you back so it’ll depend on what they expect work-wise, if they might be happy for you to work remotely from abroad, if there are quarantine requirements on return (and, if so, if you could work from home) etc. So, best to discuss with your manager/HR.

aggi

Thank you all for replies.