MORE than one in four employees are on the government’s furlough scheme – but they can go back to work part-time from today.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak hopes to keep millions of Brits employed as lockdown measures are eased, even if they can’t work, with his Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Being furloughed doesn’t mean that your boss can’t make you redundant
The government will pay 80 per cent of furloughed staff wages up to £2,500 a month so that your employer can keep you in a job.
It can be backdated to March 1 and has been extended to run up until the end of October, although it is being wound down from today.
Furloughed employees can go back to work part-time from today and earn their full salary on the hours they work, and 80 per cent of wages on for the contracted hours that that don’t.
Our guide takes you through exactly what it means for you if you find it confusing – we even take you through how to calculate your part-time furlough salary.
But does being furloughed protect you from losing your job altogether? Here we explain how being put on the scheme affects redundancy.
Can I be made redundant if I’m on furlough?
Even though furlough is designed to keep workers employed, unfortunately it doesn’t protect you from being made redundant.
But it doesn’t affect your redundancy pay rights if you are let go from your job amid the coronavirus crisis.
Your employer should still carry out a fair redundancy process.
You will be entitled to be consulted on the redundancy lay-off first and to receive a statutory redundancy payment, as long as you’ve been working somewhere for at least two years.
How much you’re entitled to depends on your age and length of service, although this is capped at 20 years. You’ll get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you were under 22,
- One week’s pay for each full year you were 22 or older, but under 41,
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you were 41 or older.
Sadly, you won’t be entitled to a payout if you’ve been working for your employer for fewer than two years.
There should be a period of collective consultation as well as time for individual ones if your employer wants to make 20 or more employees redundant within 90 days or each other.
You are also entitled to appeal the decision by claiming unfair dismissal within three months of being let go.
Can I be furloughed if I was made redundant before lockdown?
If you’d been made redundant from your job shortly before lockdown then you can ask your old employer to rehire you so that you can be furloughed.
But you must have been on the RTI payroll on February 28.
When the scheme first launched, employers were wary of rehiring former employees because it wasn’t explicitly outlined in the job retention scheme package.
