Furlough pay and accrued holiday questions - Feedback - Community Feedback

4 Furlough pay and accrued holiday questions

2 Apr, 2020 13:27

Hi there,

I have recently been placed on furlough by my company due to them taking a hit from the coronavirus and house developers stopping the majority of work.

I am going to be receiving 80% of my salary as a means to keep the company afloat during this time.

I have read online that once placed on furlough this period should last a minimum of 3 weeks before it is then reviewed to see if you can return to work. my company has stated that they can give me 1-week notice if they decide they need me again, my question is if I am off for only one week and they decide they need me the next are they still able to claim the 80% for the week I was off or will they have to fund that themselves? if they do have to pay themselves for the week i was off due to it not being the minimum of 3 weeks do they still have the option to only pay me 80% of my normal pay?

they have also mentioned that for the duration I am off (possible of up to 2 months as stated in the job retention scheme) I won't accrue any holiday during this time, which would be 4 days of annual leave? are they allowed to do this or is there any rights i have which may protect me from this?

Any response would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Nathan

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Keith | 0 Posts

2 Apr, 2020 16:31

No if you go back after a week then the furlough payment falls away I believe. They have committed to paying you 80% of salary for a non contractual lay off (I assume)

You do however accrue holiday under current guidance
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

2 Apr, 2020 18:41

Are you worried that if they don't get the grant they won't pay you? They will have to keep on running the payroll as usual, even if they are only putting through 80% of your usual pay and the earliest they can submit their grant claim is when the new portal is in operation. Originally this was expected to be mid-April but now they are saying it will be the end of April. Whenever it is, they don't wait for the grant to come in before they pay you, they pay you first and claim the grant back afterwards.

The Government's guidance is quite clear on there being a 3-week minimum.

If you absence from work isn't a furlough, then you would have to work out what contractual terms did apply to it. They would no doubt argue that you had agreed to the pay cut regardless of the duration of the absence and you would argue that you had only agreed to it as part of the Job Retention Scheme. Have you given written consent? If so, which interpretation does the wording of your consent support?

I would just show them the Government's advice - it isn't lengthy and the points about the length of furloughs and your contract continuing (which includes your holidays) are both clearly covered.
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Nathan | 0 Posts

3 Apr, 2020 08:50

In reply to Keith:
I've googled the general covid-19 guidance for employees and had a look through there but I can't see any section where it talks about holiday? are you able to provide me with a link as if I bring this up with my employer I can just show it to them in black and white?
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Steve Bridger | 0 Posts

Community Manager

3 Apr, 2020 16:43

In reply to Nathan:
Hi Nathan... and welcome to the Community.

Did you see this thread...
www.cipd.co.uk/.../do-you-continue-to-accrue-holiday-during-furlough
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