From relative obscurity just weeks ago, the term furlough has suddenly dominated the public lexicon. You\u2019ll see it splashed all over newspaper headlines, printed across Government updates and probably mentioned in workplace conversations, but what does this weird term actually mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In early March, the Government and specifically Chancellor\nRishi Sunak, announced that it would put in place measures to ensure that the\nvast rate of widespread redundancies across the UK were halted as the country\ndealt with the initial wave of infections due to coronavirus. The solution that\nthe Government devised essentially replaced the concept of redundancy with a\n\u2018furlough\u2019 \u2013 AKA the ability to keep staff on the payroll, yet for them to take\nextended leave as the company\u2019s business shrinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Government confirmed that for all businesses who forgo\nredundancies and instead place staff on furlough, it would pay up to 80% of\nstaff wages, to a total of \u00a32,500 per individual per month. This amount would\nbe payable through normal monthly instalments and could be applied for via\nHMRC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So essentially, furlough is the process of allowing staff to\nremain employed at your business yet take an extended leave of absence due to\nturbulent business. Workers who are on furlough aren\u2019t allowed to actually work\nyet will currently receive up to 80% of their normal pay \u2013 with the option to\ntop up the extra 20% in the hands of the employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scheme will initially run for at least three months,\nfrom 1 March 2020, with all UK businesses eligible, and will be extended if\nnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, employers\nwill need to take the following steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designate affected employees as \u2018furloughed workers,\u2019 and\nnotify your employees of this change \u2013 changing the status of employees remains\nsubject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract,\nmay be subject to negotiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Submit information to HMRC about the employees that have\nbeen furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal (HMRC will set\nout further details on the information required).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HMRC is working urgently to set up a system for\nreimbursement, and existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to\nemployers. If your business needs short term cash flow support, you may be\neligible for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This applies only to furloughed employees (ie are not\nperforming any work for their employer) and not those whose hours and pay\nreduces. An employee must be furloughed for a minimum of three weeks, and that\ncompensation can only be claimed for employees who were on payroll on February\n28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guidance flags the fact that the scheme does not give a \u2018right\u2019\nto put an employee on furlough. If employers do not have a contractual right to\nfurlough, they will need employee agreement, and the guidance notes that\ndepending on the numbers of employees impacted that might require a collective\nconsultation (typically of 30 days or more). In circumstances where businesses\nare facing dire cash flow situations the need to address these contractual\nissues will lessen the value of the scheme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From relative obscurity just weeks ago, the term furlough has suddenly dominated the public lexicon. You\u2019ll see it splashed all over newspaper headlines, printed across Government updates and probably mentioned in workplace conversations, but what does this weird term actually mean? In early March, the Government and specifically Chancellor Rishi Sunak, announced that it would put in place measures to ensure that the vast rate of widespread redundancies across the UK were halted as the country dealt with the initial wave of infections due to coronavirus. The solution that the Government devised essentially replaced the concept of redundancy with a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[216,214,60,218,219,17,102],"class_list":["post-1464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-job","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-employees","tag-furlough","tag-job-retention-scheme","tag-recruitment","tag-recruitment-connection-ltd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1465,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions\/1465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.recruitment-connection.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}