Zero hours contract

mf03

Hi all,
im trying to understand where my daughter stands with furlough payments. She has been working for everyone active for over a year as a Casual life guard on a zero hours contract. When the lockdown started she was getting wages based on the previous years earning and everything seemed fine. In august she received an email stating that the furlough scheme was ending and her last payment would be august. In September she received payment for hours worked in March. Now the leisure centre has reopened for a few weeks now but she hasn’t been offered any hours as they are not opening the pool to the general public, just for swimming lessons and club swimming. As such the need for Casual life guards Is zero as all sessions are covered by the full time staff. 

My question is should She still be receiving furlough payments / job support scheme Payments in November as she is still being affected by the coronavirus as the swimming pool isn’t fully open?

Any help/advice gratefully received. 

poppy12345

No one is entitled to furlough, it's entirely the decision of the employer whether they choose to continue to do this and they have decided not to. With a zero hour contract there's not much she can do about it. She could look for other work, although that could be difficult, there are places that will be taking on extra staff for Christmas.

Thrugelmir

Employees need to work a minimum of 33% of their usual hours to qualify. JSS is being put in place to retain viable employment. Not simply to fund people to do nothing indefinately. 

mf03

Thrugelmir said:

Not simply to fund people to do nothing indefinately. 

Great really helpful answer that was. 

mf03

poppy12345 said:

No one is entitled to furlough, it's entirely the decision of the employer whether they choose to continue to do this and they have decided not to. With a zero hour contract there's not much she can do about it. She could look for other work, although that could be difficult, there are places that will be taking on extra staff for Christmas.

Thanks I didn’t realise that employers had a choice to help their employees I thought the only choice they had was to claim it back from the government or not? Don’t know where this leaves her apart from looking for other work as you say. 

Thanks. 

poppy12345

Look for other work is her only option. In the meantime she can look at claiming Universal Credit but this will depend on her circumstances. If she has savings/capital of more than £16,000 she'll be excluded from claiming. A claim for UC will end any tax credits she may already be claiming. If she lives with a partner they claim as a couple. Use a benefits calculator to check entitlement.

gary83

mf03 said:

poppy12345 said:

No one is entitled to furlough, it's entirely the decision of the employer whether they choose to continue to do this and they have decided not to. With a zero hour contract there's not much she can do about it. She could look for other work, although that could be difficult, there are places that will be taking on extra staff for Christmas.

Thanks I didn’t realise that employers had a choice to help their employees I thought the only choice they had was to claim it back from the government or not? Don’t know where this leaves her apart from looking for other work as you say. 

Thanks. 

It has cost her employer progressively more to keep her on furlough, her employer probably stopped her furlough in august as from that point onwards employers were expected to contribute more & the government contributed less. The furlough scheme finishes at the end of the month & as thrugelmir pointed out its being replaced by the JSS which allows for a government contribution provided the employee works 33% of their usual hours, though once again this comes at a pretty high price to the employer. Whether you think the answers are helpful or not it’s entirely factual, the perceived “free ride” of the furlough scheme has come to an end. Your daughters choices sadly for her will be to look at what, if any benefits she might be entitled to & wait for the pool to go back to how it was Pre COVID-19 & her job to be viable once more or look for employment elsewhere that might not be as affected by the virus. Unfortunately she’s going to be in a large group of people facing that dilemma.

mf03

Thanks I hadn’t realised it worked as has been pointed out. 

She’s applied for universal credit today so we will see where that’s takes her

Thrugelmir

mf03 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Not simply to fund people to do nothing indefinately. 

Great really helpful answer that was. 

There's no easy answers to the challenges that people will face on an individual level. Adapt to survive one might say. Not expect normality as it was pre Covid to return any time soon. 

jon81uk

What did she do in previous years on a zero hour contract when the work just wasn't there? Zero hour contract means there is no minimum hours guarenteed so looking for a Christmas job is probably the best option at the moment

SXX

What did she do in previous years on a zero hour contract when the work just wasn't there? Zero hour contract means there is no minimum hours guarenteed so looking for a Christmas job is probably the best option at the moment.

I have been doing zero hour contracts for last 12 years and in normal times, there was usually work around and during any short unemployment periods I relied on savings but clearly cannot for months on end.  However there is a pandemic out there and the zero hour contract market has frozen or for the few roles that come through there are literally hundreds of candidates.  So during these unprecedentated times, there needs to be a support package for zero hour contracts.   for people who say that get another job, I don't think that they appreciate that there are literally hundreds of candidates for even the basic jobs (the kind of jobs you are overqualified for and to be honest wouldn't apply for during normal times.  I hope this explanation is helpful to people who have a very basic understanding of the pandemic and its effect on the job market, particularly zero hour contracts/freelancers/self employed etc etc.