Furlough and the Coronavirus Job Retention

Scheme
Using furlough
Employers might need to put some or all of their employees on temporary leave ('furlough') during the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic.

This means an employee or worker can agree with their employer to be put on:

● furlough to stop work temporarily but stay employed

● 'flexible furlough' to work some of their usual hours and be put on furlough for the hours they did not work

This can be a difficult time for both employers and staff. It's a good idea to make sure staff have a way to communicate
with the employer and other people they work with.
Extension of the furlough scheme
The furlough scheme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) was due to end on 31 October 2020. It has now been extended until 31
March 2021.The following changes also apply:

● the amount employers can claim has increased to 80% of wages, capped at £2,500 each month, until 31 January 2021
● employees and workers who have not been on furlough previously are now eligible

Employers will continue to pay furloughed staff 80% of their usual wages up to £2,500 per month – or more if that's been agreed
with the employee or worker.

The government will review the scheme in January 2021 to decide how much employers can claim in February and March.
What if the employee does not agree to be furloughed?

A: If the employee does not agree then if necessary, you will have to proceed with a redundancy process if that is your only option,
obviously considering all alternatives to redundancy before making a final decision. Remember that if there are 20 or more employees
in one establishment then it is important to go through collective consultation which means consulting with a union or elected
representatives if there is no union for a 30-day period (20-99 employees) or 45-day period (100 or more) and filing an HR1 form
(failure to do this is a criminal offence).

If an employee has two jobs can they be furloughed from both?

A: Yes. Equally they can be furloughed from one and not the other. It depends on the needs of the different businesses. However, if a
worker has multiple employers but only works for one at a time, if a worker is laid off from the current employer, they cannot go to a
previous employer to be furloughed.
Can we ask employees to take holiday during furloughing?
A: Holiday will accrue during furlough and can be taken and an employer can force an employee to take holiday during a furlough
period. However, hours taken as holiday count as furloughed hours and not working hours. Employees should not be furloughed
specifically because they are on holiday.

Although legislation was introduced to allow employees to carry over holiday for up to two years if they have been prevented from
taking it due to the pandemic, the guidance makes it clear that those on furlough are expected to take their holiday unless their
employer cannot afford to pay them their full wages because of their financial situation.

Those on sick leave and maternity/adoption/shared parental/paternity leave cannot be asked to take holiday.
Do we need the employee’s agreement to furlough?
Yes unless you have a clause in the contract which allows you to send home employees without pay if you do not have enough work.
These are called ‘lay off’ clauses and are generally only found in employment contracts in industries such as manufacturing where
they have peaks and troughs.

Can the employee work for someone else whilst furloughed?

Employees can volunteer whilst they are furloughed but not for their employer either directly or indirectly or for any linked or
associated organisation. The employer can try and find employees volunteer or new work with other organisations provided it is in line
with public health guidance. HMRC has confirmed that provided the employee is contractually able to work for someone else they
can. Most contracts will not allow this unless the consent of the employer is given so it will be a decision for each employer. However,
all employers taking on new staff must complete a new starter checklist and Statement C must be completed to say if the employee has
another job.
What does furlough now mean for employers?
While employees won't notice any difference in their pay packet, the scheme has become more generous for employers, who will
pay less towards it.

While the government updates the system, employers will submit their wage claim to the government, and be refunded
afterwards. After that, they will be paid upfront to cover the cost.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed the scheme will still apply throughout the UK, saying the country had "a Treasury for the
whole of the United Kingdom".

About 10 million jobs have already been claimed for, with an estimated two million people still on furlough at the end of October.
What are the basics of the CJRS?

A: These are the basics:

● An employee must have been employed on or before 30 October 2020 and an RTI submission had been made in respect of
them between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020.
● An employee can either be fully furloughed or can be asked to work some hours and furloughed for the unworked hours. For
hours worked the employee must be paid their normal wages.
● The employee cannot do any work for the employer when on furlough (either fully furloughed or during unworked hours)
but can volunteer for another organisation or work for someone else if contractually allowed.
● The employee can do training when furloughed provided they receive minimum wage when doing so.
● The furlough agreement with the employee must be kept for five years and records of the amount claimed/claim
period/calculations/usual hours worked and actual hours worked must be kept for six years.
● For those on flexible furlough, hours taken as holiday count as furloughed hours and not working hours.
● Women returning from maternity leave must give eight weeks’ notice and cannot be furloughed during that eight-week
period.
furlough:
a period of time that a soldier, worker, or prisoner is allowed
to be absent, especially to
return temporarily to their own home:
He was an Army Sergeant home on furlough.
zero-hour contract:
an agreement under which an employer can change the
number of hours worked by an
employee, and does not have to offer any hours:
Thousands of workers in the UK are on zero-hours
contracts.
рayroll:
a list of the people employed by a company showing how
much each one earns:
a payroll tax
The company is growing fast, adding another 100 employees
to its payroll over the last year.
рarental leave:
time that a parent is allowed to spend away from work to
take care of his or her baby
I had to take holidays when my son was sick because there
was no parental leave.
redundant
having lost your job because your employer no longer
needs you:
To keep the company alive, half the workforce is being
made redundant.
capped
to put a limit on the amount of money that can be
charged or spent in connection with a
particular activity:
High spending councils have all been (rate/charge)
capped.
eligible
having the necessary qualities or satisfying the
necessary conditions:
Are you eligible for early retirement/maternity leave?
multiple
very many of the same type, or of different types:
We made multiple copies of the report.
lay sb off
to stop employing someone, usually because there is no
work for them to do:
Because of falling orders, the company has been forced to
lay off several hundred workers.
volunteer
to offer to do something that you do not have to do, often
without having been
asked to do it and/or without expecting payment:
[ + to infinitive ] During the emergency many staff
volunteered to work through the
weekend.
peaks
the highest, strongest, or best point, value, or level of skill:
Prices reach a peak during August.