On payroll but not receiving furlough pay

ben8342

Ok, but they haven’t laid me off and haven’t gone through any channels to lay me off. 

bradders1983

ben8342 said:

Ok, but they haven’t laid me off and haven’t gone through any channels to lay me off. 

You need to tell them then to either pay you furlough or to lay you off.

Jeremy535897

bradders1983 said:

Furlough isnt a right, the employer makes that decision. In essence you have been laid off and they should lay you off through the correct channels.

The trouble is that with a zero hours contract, they don't have to offer you any hours of work. If they don't want you back, they should formalise the position by bringing your contract to an end. How long have you worked there?

MattMattMattUK

As you are on a zero hours contract, they have decided to pay you your contracted hours. It is unfortunate, but not unexpected, especially as they asked you to work and you refused (your circumstances are you issue not theirs). There is no entitlement to furlough at all, the requirement is that you are paid in line with your contract, or in line with an agreed variation to your contract, of which a furlough agreement could be one such variation. 

ben8342

Thank you for your help, I worked there for around a year. And obviously with previous furlough conditions I was reimbursed for 80% of the hours I’ve worked. I was asked to fill out a questionnaire asking if I would be willing to work in a different role to which I was. I was never officially asked to work any specific roles. So is the new furlough scheme different to the first one 

bradders1983

No its not different at all in terms of for both it is still the decision of the employer. In theory you could have been laid off in March and not got a penny.

The big difference is obviously 7 months of this has wrecked the hospitality industry and a lot of places are not in healthy situations anymore. Furlough isnt a freebie for the employer either, you still accrue holiday days etc.

ben8342

I do appreciate that it isn’t a freebie to the employer and that they could of laid me off in March which is basically what they should of done. I just didn’t understand why they paid me back then but not now 

bradders1983

ben8342 said:

I do appreciate that it isn’t a freebie to the employer and that they could of laid me off in March which is basically what they should of done. I just didn’t understand why they paid me back then but not now 

Probably because they thought, like the rest of the world, this would only last a few weeks, everywhere would reopen, and we would all crack on. The hospitality world is a very different place now seven months down the line. The night time economy is now something that rhymes with the word "ducked".

gary83

ben8342 said:

I do appreciate that it isn’t a freebie to the employer and that they could of laid me off in March which is basically what they should of done. I just didn’t understand why they paid me back then but not now 

You probably also don’t understand the financial state of the company  (not meant as a personal dig, most staff don’t fully comprehend the financial status of their employer) the company trading in the hospitality sector has had a previously unimaginably hard year, back in March they wouldn’t have factored people they furloughed would still be furloughed months later coming into December - when they probably usually expect bumper trade in the run up to Christmas. If they knew it was going to drag on for so long they probably wouldn’t have been so keen to furlough staff in March knowing that they’d continue to build holiday time and costs to the business.

 As it is as far as they’re concerned they offered you some work months ago yet you (understandably) refused, at the moment they’re probably more focused on supporting their business and the staff who’ve supported them throughout the year.