Notice period being paid at 80% following redundancy whilst on furlough

alps_hiker

Hi all,
Can my employer pay my notice period at the furlough rate of 80% after being made redundant? I had redundancy confirmed last week, and the reduced payment sounds like an abuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to me.

Jeremy535897

The question is whether your notice period is no more than one week longer than the statutory minimum. If it is within this, you should receive 100% of your pay. If your notice period is longer, it depends on your contract of employment.

alps_hiker

Hi Jeremy, 
My notice period is 3 months. I have worked at the company for just over 10 years. Does that help?

Grumpy_chap

Notice pay should be at 100%

There was article about this on BBC news a few days ago.

alps_hiker

Thanks Grumpy_chap,
Do you have the link for the article?
Had a search on the BBC without luck.
Thanks

Jeremy535897

Grumpy_chap said:

Notice pay should be at 100%

There was article about this on BBC news a few days ago.

Unfortunately this is only the case for statutory notice. The press release says:
"These changes will also apply to Statutory Notice Pay, which is where employees must be given a notice period before their employment ends, varying from at least one week’s notice up to 12 weeks’ notice, depending on how long they have worked for their employer. During this notice period, employees must be paid." See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-law-to-ensure-furloughed-employees-receive-full-redundancy-payments

10 years equates to ten years of statutory notice. Logically that should mean the minimum OP should be paid 100% for 10 weeks out of his notice, and at least 80% for the balance, but we don't actually have the new law yet. It also only came into effect on 30 July, so it may not affect the OP if he was made redundant earlier. For an article that explores the issues (not the new law) in more depth, see:
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/notice-pay-furlough-pilon/

Grumpy_chap

Thanks Jeremy, beat me to it and explained to perfect clarity (as always)

Jeremy535897

Very kind of you to say so. I'm not infallible!

alps_hiker

Thanks for your advice guys. After querying it with my employer & quoting the .gov.uk press release above, I will be paid my full salary during the notice period 👍