Furlough Payment

Alirara

Hi, I have a query about furlough pay and how much my granddaughter should be receiving. The situation is that she was a saturday girl (for well over a year) for a well known hairdressers before being offered an apprenticeship with them last August. Whilst on furlough her wages have been very much up and down (£130 this month - salary is normally around £600)  and when she asked her manager about it , the reply was that it was calculated on what she was earning 12 months ago ... Saturday pay?  She is very reluctant to press the issue too far a) because she is young and fairly new b) she loves her job and doesn't want to be seen as 'trouble' ... in other words a typical , hardworking shy young teenager. Could any of you kind, knowledgeable people tell me what she should be entitled to and how that entitlement would be worked out. Thank you 

Jeremy535897

If she was on the payroll at 19 March 2020, and her pay varies, the amount her employer can claim under the CJRS is the higher of:

• her average wages for 2019/20 up to the date she was furloughed, and
• the pay she received in the equivalent pay period in the previous year

What she should be paid is as per her employment contract, amended by any furlough agreement. If this is stated to be equal to what the employer can claim for her pay under CJRS, then that is what she is entitled to.

Alirara

Thanks for your speedy and informative reply. She was actually on the payroll as a Saturday girl (with a bit of overtime) until being offered her apprenticeship in August 2020 and therefore would this be affecting the different amounts that she is being paid? I presume that the extension to the furlough scheme might be different , as that only requires you to be in employment and on the payroll on or before 30th October 2020. If this is correct, would and when will she then be receiving 80% of her contractual salary? Thanks again for your time.

Jeremy535897

Remember that what her contract entitles her to, and what her employer can claim under CJRS, may be different (although her employer has to pay her what they claim for her pay as a minimum). There are winners and losers where people have increased or reduced their hours, or have been promoted. The rules look backwards, so an employer claiming for an employee who went part time say in June still has to base furlough on the full time earnings and pay it over. Equally someone who moves from part time to full time finds their employer can only claim CJRS based on their part time hours, and if this is all the employer has to pay under their contract/furlough agreement, there is nothing that can be done. Apprentices have lost their jobs in this pandemic, so she is better off than many.

If she qualified for furlough under the original rules back in March 2020, her pay at October 2020 (or January 2021) are irrelevant.