Furlough in September and October

7thhouse

Hi Just looking for some info on furlough after this month. I have been on furlough since march and was hoping to be started back full time again soon, sadly looks like thats unlikely, However my employer has hinted we may start going back late september early october, but only for the hours the government won't pay furlough for. So 10% hours in sept +70% furlough pay then 20% hours +60% furlough in October.

Am I wrong or isnt it supposed to be paid 100% for hours worked then 70%+employer top up to 80% for hours furloughed? I'm not really that bothered to be fair as the difference is minimal, but don't want the tax man hammering on my door.

Jeremy535897

What your employer contracts with you concerning your pay is a matter for you both to agree, and HMRC has no role in that. If they pay you at a rate lower than 80% of your "reference salary" though, they cannot claim CJRS. That means that to claim CJRS they must pay you at least what they have been paying you while you have been on furlough (assuming they were paying the 80%), whatever hours you work, but they don't have to pay you more than that. Read your contract of employment and furlough agreement, because if they say your salary is only reduced to 80% while on furlough, they will have to pay you 100% for hours worked.

7thhouse

Sadly never had a contract nor was a furlough agreement offered or signed..was just told verbaly i was furloughed(which I am thankful for as the alternative was no money.). Pay has been at 80% during furlough, but as its a minimum wage job I was under the immpression it couldnt be paid for hours worked at less than 100%

Jeremy535897

7thhouse said:

Sadly never had a contract nor was a furlough agreement offered or signed..was just told verbaly i was furloughed(which I am thankful for as the alternative was no money.). Pay has been at 80% during furlough, but as its a minimum wage job I was under the immpression it couldnt be paid for hours worked at less than 100%

I hadn't appreciated from your post that this would take you below NMW. They cannot do that for hours worked. No exceptions.

They have failed to follow the rules on evidencing furlough generally by the sound of it.

7thhouse

Yes sorry , I should have mentioned the NMW, it's pretty much the normal pay where I live, a very poor part of the country. And as most work is within the hospitality sector up here, I dont really want to peeve my employer off.  I was just trying to figure out whether they can get me to work the 10% for the pay they are currently giving me on furlough. The official site is a little silent on employees side of things..I guess as furlough was set up for employers.

epm-84

7thhouse said:

but as its a minimum wage job I was under the immpression it couldnt be paid for hours worked at less than 100%

That is correct.  You can agree a pay cut with your employer for the hours you work but they must pay you at least the minimum wage for those hours.  So if you're contracted to get £8.72 per hour for 40 hours a week meaning you get £348.80 a week then it's fine for you to get £279.04 (80%) if you're not working but if you work for 4 hours a week then you need to get (4 x 8.72) + (36 x 6.98) = £286.16 - it won't affect your weekly pay much but that would be the minimum your employer could pay you.  If someone else gets £10.90 an hour then their furloughed rate would be equivalent to the minimum wage for over 25s so they could work for 80% of their normal pay if there's an agreement in place between both parties.

7thhouse

My understanding of what they are wanting to do is pay me the 70% of my salary furloughed(the maximum the government pay.) then make me work the 10% top up hours, this is the bit I was unsure about. is it legal and if not is this solely an issue for them or will it come back on me. I honestly dont mind working as long as its all above board. I won't work 'fiddle'

7thhouse

Not sure I worded the last post right. My salary is around 1500 per month. so currently getting 80% of that. The Employer seems to want to pay me the same but make me work 10% of my hours, which to my mind would put me below minimum wage for the working hours or below 80% for the furloughed hours

unholyangel

7thhouse said:

Sadly never had a contract nor was a furlough agreement offered or signed..was just told verbaly i was furloughed(which I am thankful for as the alternative was no money.). Pay has been at 80% during furlough, but as its a minimum wage job I was under the immpression it couldnt be paid for hours worked at less than 100%

If they haven't sent you a written commmunication saying you were being put on furlough and you didn't agree to a reduction beyond your normal contracted rate then
1) Your employer has made a fraudulent claim and should be looking to repay any funds they have received from CJRS, lest HMRC ask for the agreements and they then end up having to repay + pay penalties. 
2) You and the other staff could potentially take action for unlawful deduction of wages from March. Whether it's wise to do this or not is another matter. Particularly when the alternative could potentially being the business going under. 

If you're NMW they need to pay you 100% for hours worked. The period you are are furloughed they could have (if you agreed when you were furloughed) paid you less but it would have to be 80% of your reference salary - with them only being able to reclaim a % of it under CJRS