Furlough pay for workers receiving state pension

hpine22

Hi there
My 69 year old mother receives a state pension. She was furloughed from her job in March, when she had to shield.
She has been on furlough pay ever since. Her employer applied for it for her and successfully got it.
Now they say they have been contacted and  told she must pay it all back? Is this correct?
Many thanks 

bradders1983

I would be asking for proof they want it back in the first instance.

hpine22

They would not lie unfortunately 

bradders1983

I would still be asking tbh. Also yes, furlough claims can be reversed in an audit if an employer has deemed to have incorrectly (or fraudulently) applied for some or all of their employees.

I have no idea why your mother would have fallen foul of an audit though.

hpine22

It seems so unfair - she was told she is entitled,  and now she has to pay it all back

bradders1983

They must have given a reason surely.

Ask for one.

ToxicWomble

Would the employer not be ultimately responsible though ?
They paid the wages and just claimed it back
Their problem if they messed up imo
(depends if mum wants to carry on working there and how much money we are talking about to how much she wants to “fight”)

bradders1983

Issue is if she refuses to pay it back them may just start taking it from her wages when she does go back (rightly or wrongly)

Jeremy535897

There is a fundamental misconception here (ToxicWomble alludes to it). OP says "now they (the employer presumably) say they have been contacted (by HMRC presumably) and told she must pay it all back."

This is not correct. HMRC may well decide, for whatever reason, that a furlough claim was made incorrectly, but they would never say that the employee must pay it back, either to the employer or to HMRC. Any incorrectly paid furlough is a matter for HMRC and the employer.

What may be the case, and the furlough agreement needs to be checked, is that it might say that pay is reduced while on furlough to the amount the employer can claim from HMRC, and if for any reason HMRC recover the claim, the employer can recover it from the employee.

If there is nothing in the furlough agreement (or any other documentation such as the contract of employment) to this effect, the employer cannot legally recover the failed claim from the employee, and to deduct it from future wages would be unlawful.