What happens if they fall sick or are told to self-isolate? If an employee working under a flexible furlough or rotating furlough arrangement falls sick or is told to self-isolate in periods when they are due to be working, usual sick pay arrangements should apply and you should pay the SSP or company sick pay due. For employees whose absence from work is related to Covid, new regulations have removed the three-day waiting period for payment of SSP.
The position for the periods when a sick employee is due to go back on furlough is more complicated. An employee cannot be on sick leave and furlough simultaneously. It is not entirely clear from the government guidance if you could move a sick employee onto their expected turn on furlough, or if this would be considered an abuse of the scheme. The guidance says that the furlough scheme is not intended for short-term absence and that short-term illness or self-isolation should not be a consideration in deciding whether to furlough an employee.
On the other hand, the guidance also says that, if employers want to furlough employees for business reasons and they are currently off sick, they are eligible to do so, as with other employees.
Our interpretation of the guidance was that you should be able to move a sick employee back onto their due turn on furlough whether under a rotating furlough or flexible furloughing arrangement , provided they were genuinely due to be on furlough at that time and you have not moved them to furlough simply because they are sick.
In the circumstances, the least risky approach would be to keep the employee on sick leave for the entire period. This may also be administratively more convenient, but you would not be able to claim the furlough grant to help pay sick pay. Where sickness absence is not related to Covid and the three-day waiting period for SSP still applies, we do not think that intervening periods of furlough will mean the employee has to serve out waiting days again on returning from furlough.
Will workers continue to accrue holiday allowance while they are furloughed? Yes, because they remain employed. You could agree to reduce any enhanced contractual holiday beyond the statutory minimum of 5. Can people ask or be required to take their holiday allowance while furloughed? This means that, if employees have pre-booked holidays, they will be able to take them - you do not need to allow rescheduling unless they would ordinarily have a right to reschedule.
If you would like to require employees to take holiday during furlough, you would need to give twice as much notice as the length of the holiday you want them to take e. Can we restrict employees taking holiday? The new right to carry over holiday of up to four weeks into the next two holiday years may assist disgruntled employees who have not been permitted to take holiday during furlough due to the extra cost to the employer. Holiday guidance published on the original furlough scheme , which has not yet been updated, says that if the employer is unable to fund the difference due to the impact of coronavirus, it is likely that this would make it not reasonably practicable for the worker to take their holiday and so they would be allowed to carry it forward.
What about bank holidays during furlough? If employees normally work on bank holidays, they will simply be on furlough leave not holiday on the bank holiday unless you require them to take a holiday. If employees have the right to take bank holidays off as holidays, the old holiday guidance says that the employer has two options. You can agree with the employee to take the bank holiday as annual leave, or require them to take it by giving notice in accordance with the WTR, and pay correct holiday pay for that day.
Alternatively, you can agree that the employee defers the holiday to another date and pay furlough pay only on the bank holiday. What should we pay employees who take holiday during furlough? Holiday guidance published on the original furlough scheme explains how to calculate holiday pay for statutory minimum holidays 5. For employees with normalworking hours and pay, the calculation is essentially based on usual pay, not reduced furlough pay.
The position is less straightforward for employees with no normal working hours, whose holiday pay is based on an average of all pay received over the last 52 weeks. It seems likely that furlough pay counts as pay for this purpose. However, the additional UK statutory entitlement 1. Employers must fund any top-up to full holiday pay themselves and cannot claim this back through the furlough grant.
Employers are still free to agree a different rate of pay for contractual holiday over and above the statutory minimum holiday entitlement of 5. In addition, many employers have asked employees who are still working i. In our view, it could be open to employers in some circumstances to agree similar pay cuts with staff who are furloughed, particularly where colleagues in similar roles who remain at work have agreed to a pay cut, which could also impact their holiday pay. How does flexible furloughing affect holiday?
Employees will continue to accrue holiday allowance during a period of flexible furlough and should be paid their usual holiday pay rate for statutory minimum holiday, not reduced furlough pay.
The guidance for both employers and employees says that any hours taken as holiday during a flexible furlough claim period should be counted as furloughed hours rather than working hours. This means that an employee who is due to work part-time during a particular claim period under the flexible furlough scheme will be treated as being on furlough for all holiday taken during that period — irrespective of whether some or all of the days of holiday fall on days when they were otherwise due to work.
The employer will be able to claim the furlough grant for the whole of the holiday period, although it will still have to top-up to full holiday pay. The guidance also says that employees should not be placed on furlough for a period simply because they are on holiday for that period. We believe this means that an employer cannot deliberately move an employee onto furlough instead of work, or move an employee whose furlough period had finished back into the furlough scheme, because they have booked a holiday.
However, if the employee was already due to be working under a flexible furlough arrangement, all holiday time during that period should be treated as furlough. You can claim for employees of a previous business who transferred to you, if either the TUPE or PAYE business succession rules apply to the change in ownership. If you are claiming for a period between 1 November and 30 April , eligible employees should have transferred from their old employer to you after on or after 1 September and been employed by either their old employer on or before 30 October What about workers who are clinically extremely vulnerable?
Can they be furloughed? From 1 April , clinically extremely vulnerable people are no longer advised to shield, and the latest 19 July guidance on protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable says that social distancing measures are ending in the workplace and it is no longer necessary to instruct employees to work from home.
However, this guidance also says that they may be eligible for furlough even when shielding is paused, providing the employer agrees. The furlough scheme could be used as a temporary option for vulnerable employees who resist a return to work but cannot work from home. What about workers with childcare or other caring commitments? Yes, if this results from coronavirus and means they are unable to work.
The latest version of the guidance on which employees can be furloughed says that the CJRS can be used for employees who are unable to work because they have caring responsibilities resulting from coronavirus. These might include caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing, or caring for a vulnerable individual in their household. Although employees in this situation can be placed on furlough, there is no right to be furloughed — it is still up to the employer whether it wishes to do so.
Alternative options include temporary flexible working, use of holiday entitlement which may include holiday carried over from last year , and unpaid parental leave or other unpaid leave. Can an employee be on maternity leave and furloughed? The guidance says that employers can claim for enhanced maternity pay through the furlough scheme.
This suggests that an employee can be on maternity leave and furloughed simultaneously. However, you cannot reclaim any statutory maternity pay SMP through the furlough scheme. One of our employees is due to return from maternity leave soon.
Can she be furloughed on her return? Yes, if she agrees. The guidance clarifies the position on calculating furlough pay if an employee returns from maternity leave.
This should be calculated against her normal salary, not the pay she received while on leave. One of our employees wants to come back from maternity leave early in order to move onto furlough.
Can she do this? Potentially, yes, if you agree to furlough her upon her return. One of our furloughed employees is pregnant and is due to go on maternity leave soon. SMP should be calculated based on the pay the employee would have received had they not been on furlough.
This means that employees do not lose out if they are on a lower rate of furlough pay during the period for calculating SMP. What about other types of family leave? The position for shared parental, adoption, paternity or parental bereavement leave is the same as for maternity leave. What about employees on unpaid leave, such as a sabbatical?
Employees cannot be on unpaid leave and furloughed simultaneously. Are foreign nationals with visas eligible for the furlough scheme? Yes, the guidance says foreign nationals are eligible. There are potential sponsor compliance issues to consider for Tier 2 workers.
Are self-employed individuals eligible for the furlough scheme? A separate package of government support is available for self-employed individuals affected by coronavirus. Can employees do the odd bit of work for us while furloughed? When furloughed, employees cannot do anything that provides services to or makes money for an employer that has furloughed them, or for a linked or associated organisation. We recommend drawing this to the attention of any furloughed employee who could otherwise be doing some work from home.
Employees who are on flexible furlough must not do any work during the hours you record them as on furlough. Can directors perform statutory duties and pay employees? The guidance says that directors and owner-managers can be furloughed if on PAYE and will still be allowed to perform statutory duties in these roles, so long as this no more work than reasonably necessary for that purpose.
They must not generate commercial revenue or provide services to or on behalf of their company. Importantly, the TD says only a limited range of duties are allowed — work done to fulfil a duty or obligation arising from an Act of Parliament, relating to the filing of company's accounts or provision of other information relating to the administration of the director's company.
The TD as amended has clarified that directors can also pay salaries to employees of their company and submit claims for furloughed employees to receive the government grant without this counting as work. Can we ask employees to do training while furloughed?
A furloughed employee can do training in certain circumstances. In fact, the guidance says that furloughed employees should be encouraged to undertake training. In addition, the training should not contribute to a significant degree to the production of any goods the employer intends to supply as part of the provision of goods or services or to the supply of any services for which consideration is received. Can we ask employees to take part in appraisals while furloughed?
There is a risk that this would fall within the definition of work and so jeopardise the grant. This is not covered in the guidance but, in our view, it is safest to delay appraisals until the employee is back at work either full time or on flexible furlough. It would be less risky simply to give an employee an appraisal rating if needed, without holding a meeting - e. In this article, we explain: What is furlough? When does furlough end? What will happen when furlough ends?
What is furlough? While nothing is certain, there are some predictions of what could happen when furlough ends. Unemployment could rise More than a million workers were still thought to be furloughed in September, the final month of the scheme. Some businesses will really struggle We are no longer in lockdown but it could take months or even years before life returns to some degree of normality.
Personal debt levels could increase As unemployment rises, some people will struggle to pay their bills and we could see a rise in the use of credit cards, loans and overdrafts. But some people will return to work While some furloughed workers will lose their jobs, others will start working again for the first time since the scheme was introduced.
What if I am made redundant? What am I entitled to if I am made redundant? You have the same redundancy rights if you are furloughed as if you were still working as normal: A notice period before your job finishes A statutory amount of redundancy payments A consultation period for firms with 20 or more workers planning to make redundancies Furloughed workers must receive redundancy pay based on their normal wages and not at a reduced rate. Note that: Length of service is capped at 20 years.
Your company may pay more than the statutory amount, though, so again do check your contract. How did furlough work? All businesses, regardless of size, that had been adversely affected by the coronavirus crisis were eligible to receive grants from the government These were then paid as normal to employees in weekly or monthly payroll cycles. People could be furloughed if they work: Full-time Part-time Flexibly such as agency workers or people on zero-hours contracts Employees who lost their jobs before the furlough scheme was extended could be re-hired and put on furlough.
Find out more: Guide to redundancy Furlough was designed for people on payroll. Sign up to our newsletter Receive regular articles and guides from our experts to help you make smarter financial decisions. First name. Last name. Read next.
If you are a furloughed union or non-union representative you can carry out duties and activities for the purpose of individual or collective representation of employees or other workers. You must not provide services to or generate revenue for your organisation or an associated organisation. If you are a furloughed pension scheme trustee or trustee director of a corporate trustee, you may carry out trustee duties in relation to the pension scheme.
If you are a professional, independent pension scheme trustee who has been furloughed by the independent trustee company, you cannot carry out trustee work that would provide services to or generate revenue for the independent trustee company, or any organisation associated with that independent trustee company.
If your employer has to make redundancies, they should follow the normal rules. This includes giving you a notice period and speaking to you before making a final decision. Your employer cannot claim through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for you, for any days on or after 1 December when you were furloughed and serving a contractual or statutory notice period this includes serving notice of retirement or resignation.
If you are made redundant, your employer should base your statutory redundancy and statutory notice pay on your normal wage rather than the reduced furlough wage. From 1 July , the level of grant will be reduced and your employer will be asked to contribute towards the cost of your wages. Your employer must pay you all the grant they receive for your gross pay in the form of money. Your employer cannot enter into any transaction with you which reduces the amount you receive. This includes any administration charge, fees or other costs in connection with your employment.
Where you have authorised your employer to make deductions from your salary, these deductions can continue while you are furloughed provided that these deductions are not charges, fees or other costs in connection with your employment. If your pay varies, find out how your employer will calculate your usual salary. If your pay varies and you are furloughed when you return from statutory leave, your employer should calculate the grant using the normal rules for employees whose pay varies.
If you have been flexibly furloughed, your employer will need to work out your usual hours and record the actual hours you work to calculate your furloughed hours for the claim period.
Your employer should work out your usual hours for each pay period using the calculation work out usual hours for employees who work variable hours if either:.
You can take holiday whilst on furlough. If you are flexibly furloughed, then any hours taken as holiday during the claim period should be counted as furloughed hours rather than working hours. You can agree with your employer to vary holiday pay entitlement as part of the furlough agreement, however almost all workers are entitled to 5.
Employees can take holiday whilst on furlough. If you are flexibly furloughed then any hours taken as holiday during the claim period should be counted as furloughed hours rather than working hours. You should not be put on furlough for a period just because you are on holiday for that period.
This applies equally during any peak periods in late December and early January. Working Time Regulations WTR require holiday pay to be paid at your normal rate of pay or, where your rate of pay varies, calculated on the basis of the average pay you received in the previous 52 working weeks 12 weeks in Northern Ireland. Therefore, if you take holiday while on furlough, your employer should pay you your usual holiday pay in accordance with the WTR.
Your employer will be obliged to pay the additional amounts over the grant, though will have the flexibility to restrict when leave can be taken if there is a business need. This applies for both the furlough period and the recovery period. If you usually work bank holidays then your employer can agree that this is included in the grant payment.
If you usually take the bank holiday as leave then your employer would either have to top up your pay to your usual holiday pay, or give you a day of holiday in lieu.
Read more guidance on holiday pay during furlough. Find out more information on training that is available. When you do training at the request of your employer during hours which your employer records you as being on furlough, you are entitled to be paid at least your appropriate national minimum wage for this time. However, when the minimum wage entitlement is more than the furlough payment, your employer will need to pay you the additional wages.
During hours you are on furlough you will not be able to work for your employer. Your employer cannot ask you to do any work for them that:. For the hours you are furloughed your employer cannot ask you to do work for another linked or associated company. If your contract allows, you may undertake other employment for the time your current employer has placed you on furlough, and this will not affect the grant that they can claim under the scheme. You will need to be able to work for the employer that has placed you on furlough if they decide to stop furloughing you or start flexibly furloughing you, and you must be able to undertake any training they require while on furlough.
If you take on new employment, you should make sure you complete the starter checklist form with your new employer correctly. If you are furloughed from another employment, you should complete Statement C. Any activities undertaken while on furlough must be in line with the latest Public Health guidance during the coronavirus outbreak. If your employer asks you to go on furlough and you refuse you may be at risk of redundancy or termination of employment, depending on the circumstances of your employer.
However, this must be in line with normal redundancy rules and protections. We are doing this to:. You can view the latest data for claims made through the scheme. You can see if you were included in a grant made to your employer for previous claim periods in your personal tax account. If your employer has repaid the full amount of their grant for published months, you will no longer be able to see that information. If the information you see is different to what you would expect, you should speak to your employer in the first instance, if you feel comfortable doing so.
HMRC will not be able to give any more details apart from those available in your personal tax account. If you think that your employer is abusing the scheme you can report fraud to HMRC online. HMRC will check claims, and payments may be withheld or need to be paid back if a claim is found to be fraudulent or based on incorrect information.
You can report fraud to HMRC if your employer is abusing the scheme. This could include your employer:. You can also contact HMRC if you cannot get the help you need online or from your employer. We are receiving a very high numbers of calls, so please do not contact us unnecessarily.
This will help us manage our essential public services during these challenging times. You should contact us if you think you do not meet the eligibility criteria due to:. You can read previous versions of this guidance on The National Archives. Information updated because the last claim date for September has passed.
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