0 hour contract and flexible furlough

kerri76

My friend is 0 hour contract and was furloughed from March until 27th June then taken off furlough and was returned for 28th and 29th .He has been given 2days work for July and not been offered flexible furlough. The company has said they are not using the flexible furlough scheme. Other 0 hour  contract  are still fully furloughed and not returning to work yet but my friend has  been taken off he would usally work 48hours a week and is being given just 24hours for the whole month , is there anything he can do ?

poppy12345

Flexible furlough is still entirely the decision of the employer and they can't be forced into anything.

jimkelly

He’s somewhat fortunate to be getting that if he’s on zero hours contract.  The clue is in the name.

Jeremy535897

jimkelly said:

He’s somewhat fortunate to be getting that if he’s on zero hours contract.  The clue is in the name.

Yes, but if it walks like a duck...

If your friend usually works a substantial number of hours each week, every week, and it had reached the stage where he just turned up every week and did the same job without being called to agree the hours for the day or week first, it may be that he doesn't actually have a zero hours contract. Just calling it that does not make it so.

"Legal case

It's also important that practice matches details within the contract. In a recent legal case, an employee's hours were stated to be only those specified by his line manager each week, but in fact he had worked a 48-hour week for two years. When his hours were reduced he claimed constructive unfair dismissal. His employer argued that there was no legal obligation to provide him with work, so he was on a zero hours contract - was a worker, not an employee - and could not claim for unfair dismissal.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that the true agreement, worked out from the evidence as a whole, was that the employee was contractually entitled to work for 48 hours per week. The EAT remitted the case back to the Employment Tribunal to decide whether the failure to provide 48 hours of work amounted to an unfair constructive dismissal."

From https://www.lawdonut.co.uk/business/employment-law/working-time-hours-leave-flexible-working/guide-to-zero-hours-contracts-for-employers

cacs310

jimkelly said:

He’s somewhat fortunate to be getting that if he’s on zero hours contract.  The clue is in the name.

You can claim for employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts. Foreign nationals are eligible to be furloughed. Grants under the scheme are not counted as ‘access to public funds’, and you can furlough employees on all categories of visa.
This can be found on HMRC Website for anyone who needs it 
As far as HMRC are concerned those on Zero Hours are entitled to Furlough. The Clue is in there Guidelines.

jimkelly

It's up to the employer whether they want to continue furloughing staff, not the employee.

The OP agreed to a zero hour contract, therefore the possibility exists of a zero pay packet.

Just because "he would usually work 48hours a week" doesn't mean he is on a 48 hours per week contract, he is still on a zero hours contract.  He is now "being given just 24hours for the whole month", yet that is what happens with zero hours contracts.