Made to work during Furlough. Company can't afford me anymore, shouldn't I be made redundant?

hvj1983

OK so I work for a small company who from the off furloughed me and others, but made it clear that if we wanted the company to survive while it wasn't bringing money in, and for us to have jobs at the end of it, we needed to still be available to WFH, so we were pretty much guilt tripped into carrying on as normal(ish - there is less work) remotely. We were encouraged to use personal email accounts rather than the company ones and if I hadn't booked holiday off, then I've needed to particiate in daily Teams video calls and to carry out work alongside my manager, who wasn't furloughed. In effect they've still had me contributing to the workload for free as they've never made up the 20%.

The situation hasn't changed but the MD suggested to me that I need to start having "non-furloughed days". I said that's fine but I'll need to be paid accordingly. He responded that there's no more money to go around so remuneration wouldn't change. I feel very much in limbo and am aware that the company needs to be starting to contribute a certain & of pay/NI soon if not now (I think?), yet I'm pretty much being strung along and being underpaid in my role. There has been no formal communication of a change in Furlough status, contract or pay. It's been suggested this won't change for the rest of the year.

If I'm not being formally taken off furlough, my contract and/or salary isn't changing if I was taken off, and the company can no longer afford me, shouldn't I just be made redundant? I also feel there's a possibility that they're hanging on til I quit instead so they don't have to pay any redundency money. Does anyone have any practical advice about what my next step should be?

Sibbers123

Why do you want to work for an employer that is fraudulent? 
You can report them here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc

If you leave, you will have a strong case for a constructive dismissal claim.

hvj1983

Well I don't, but everyone's been guilted into submission and as it's such a small company (with several employees having worked for around 20+yrs together so have major loyalty ties) it may become obvious who's reported them. If it all goes wrong then they might just simply fire me for doing so.

diggingdude

hvj1983 said:

Well I don't, but everyone's been guilted into submission and as it's such a small company (with several employees having worked for around 20+yrs together so have major loyalty ties) it may become obvious who's reported them. If it all goes wrong then they might just simply fire me for doing so.

If they fire you for reporting fraud you take them to a tribunal and you will win

superbigal

They also must be dripping in money.  Take that into consideration.

Jeremy535897

It is very hard to deal with entrenched loyalties, but you seem to be thinking that the employer has no loyalty to you. I agree. You have gone along with a situation where your employer appears to be defrauding the government, and cannot expect it to behave any better towards you.

As there is no paperwork evidencing that you have already accepted a pay cut, they would not normally be able to reduce your pay to 80% unilaterally, but the problem is that you have tacitly accepted that pay reduction because you continued to work (against furlough rules) for that rate of pay. The question is whether the new proposed arrangements actually differ in their outcome from what has been going on. If they do, you can refuse to accept them, and they could sack you, and you could claim unfair dismissal before an employment tribunal, where no doubt the false furlough would be revealed (I would think your employer would be very reluctant to involve an employment tribunal). If they don't, you have already put up with them for three months, so there's nothing to complain about. Whether you should report the employer for fraud is a matter for you.

rosiesposies

This is not am employer i would be wanting to invest years of my life with. i would converse only in writing and look for another job, and report them once new employment is found. 

hvj1983

superbigal said:

They also must be dripping in money.  Take that into consideration.

They're reallty not, that's the thing. So it's not that I don't believe them that they essentially can't afford me, it's just a case that they're hoping we're such a small outfit that we'll all just go along with unnofficial interpretation of Furlough guidance, and that HMRC won't even notice... 

hvj1983

rosiesposies said:

This is not am employer i would be wanting to invest years of my life with. i would converse only in writing and look for another job, and report them once new employment is found. 

I totally agree. I'm at a point where I've updated my CV and am actively looking online, plus updated porfolio is also in progress. It's just painful to carry on in this limbo in the meantime and it's unlikely I'll find another suitable job very quickly. Feel like I'm really being taken advantage of. I've now also emailed our accounts person (who is technically fereelance, so not entranched in company but still has certain degree of loyalty) to see if they're available/willing to talk confidentially.

X

I know it sounds like a clichè, but IMHO,  "honesty is the best policy".
Your dishonest employer deserves to be reported!

How long have you worked there?
I don't know, but will furlough have changed any statutory redundancy rights?

hvj1983

X said:

......
I don't know, but will furlough have changed any statutory redundancy rights?

I've been there over 3 years. I did look online at the .gov advice (UK) and statutory redundancy rights are to be upheld during furlough. Meaning they'd have to pay me some form of redundancy package, which is becoming obvious they want to avoid...