On 19 March 2020, the Government announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme or the “furlough” scheme as it has become known. Thousands of employers have taken advantage of the scheme and decided to furlough millions of workers.
The furlough scheme is aimed at protecting businesses facing interruption because of Covid19. It entitles employers to claim back 80% employees wages up to £2500 per month. If an employee is furloughed, they cannot do any work for their employer.
The concept of “furlough” has been introduced into many workers’ lives perhaps without any true understanding of the consequences this has for their working rights.
This blog gives a brief outline of some things employees should be considering when agreeing to be furloughed and their rights under the scheme.
While furlough is about taking away some of the employee costs of a business that is either not operating or operating at a much reduced capacity, it does not take away your rights as an employee.
Can I demand to be put on Furlough?
No, it is your employer who selects who they want to put on furlough. As long as there are no discrimination issues (for example, selecting people on the basis of their race or sex), your employer will have a wide discretion to decide who they wish to Furlough. If your employer is furloughing staff and you feel that furlough would be in your interests (if, for example, someone in your household is vulnerable or because school closures have given you extra childcare responsibilities), you should put forward a positive case for why you should be selected for furlough.
Your employment Contract
The Furlough Scheme entitles your employer to claim 80% of employee salaries up to £2500 from the government. This does not mean you are only entitled to 80% of your wages. Your contract will likely entitle you to 100% of you wages, and your employer cannot pay you any less than this unless you agree to a temporary variation of your contract You should assess all your options before you agree to take a wage cut. However, in many cases the alternative to furlough may be redundancy or unpaid leave, so you should be aware of this risk.
As a note of caution, if you agree to a variation, ensure it is only temporary and does not extend beyond any period of furlough. If this is not the case, your employer may be in a position to bring you back to work on a reduced wage.
Holidays
Whilst you are on Furlough your holidays continue to accrue.
You or your employer may ask for you to take some of your annual leave whilst on furlough. You should receive what pay you would normally expect from annual leave, even where you have agreed to a deduction in wages during a period of furlough.
The Government have announced that where it is not reasonably practicable for an employee to take their annual leave in the original year, this can be carried forward. Please note this only applies to the first 4 weeks of annual leave entitlement under the Working Time Regulations and any enhanced annual leave will be at the discretion of your employers annual leave policy. This means that where you have not taken a minimum of 4 weeks you may be allowed to carry these over into next year’s annual leave.
Lay off/Short Time Clauses
Lay off and Short Time clauses may already exist in your employment contract. They are likely to say something along the lines on ‘while we will always endeavour to provide you work, in the event that there is insufficient work available, you will agree that we are entitled to place you on short time or lay you off without any pay except your statutory guarantee.’
This means that where an employer sees fit, they may send you home without any future work or pay, until such time they have enough business to start paying you again.
One thing to be particularly cautious about when signing furlough agreements is that your employer may seek to introduce a lay off clause into your contract of employment. If you notice this in a furlough agreement like this you may want to push back and ask why it has been included. You should speak to your Trade Union Representative for support.
Furlough agreements are saving jobs and have served a valuable purpose in these unprecedented times. However, in our experience, if you give an employer an inch, they will take a mile, so please approach these agreements with caution and be fully aware of what you are agreeing to. Talk to your trade union representative or take some legal advice.
If you are an employee being furlough during lockdown, please contact the STUC at
Blog by Lauren Strain
Useful Links
Who we are – The Team page
COVID 19 - Covid 19 and the Duty of Care
COVID 19 - If you’re still working…what should your employers do?
COVID-19 – What do I do if I’ve already been made redundant?
COVID -19 – What protections do I have if refuse to attend work?
80% Wage Guarantee: What do we know? What do we not know
COVID-19 Pandemic – Your Employment Rights
COVID 19 - Tips for Protecting your Mental Health whilst Working from Home
