Furlough madness

[Katykitten2]

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this furlough scheme, whilst deserving of some merit, is far too generous? At 80% there is little to encourage people to return to work since this other 20% is accounted for by the savings in petrol, coffees and other work related daily expenditure.
This has all got to be paid for remember.

[Figgygal]

Only if you earn under £2.5k a month some people are taking a hell of a drop to be on it and would rather be at work

[Dead2me]

If you are on furlough you can’t return to work, it’s not an alternative

[SexTrainGlue]

It's not up yo the individual to choose when they they go back. It's up to the employer to restart the business as soon as it is a) permitted and b) safe so to do.

We'll have to wait and see how many businesses which had to close with actually survive.

[Paddingtonthebear]

You can’t work if you are furloughed!
If you can return to work, you will be expected to. If you don’t want to do that you will probably be put on unpaid leave or you will lose your job. Employers claim the furlough pay and they can stop furlough pay any time they want.

[daisymay133]

I agree there’s loads of demand for staff in other areas that aren’t being filled

[Crosshall24]

It is very generous but what other option is there ? I’m sure most people would rather be at work earning 100%
I am dying to get back to work , I work in the Travel Industry and preparing to be off for another while yet - hopefully not thougj

[Waxonwaxoff0]

I'm furloughed. 80% of my wage takes it to under minimum wage. Would you prefer to see people like me starve?

I want to be back at work as soon as possible but there is no work for me right now.

[MrsG010814]

These threads are rediculous. Only your employer can decide to furlough or unfurlough you. People aren't just deciding not to work. I'm currently on furlough leave and my contract prohibits me from working elsewhere. If this scheme wasn't in place there would be mass redundancies and a huge number of unemployed claiming benefits probably a lot longer than this scheme will last which would likely cost a lot more money.

[KindlyFOD]

Yes, you are right, because everyone who was furloughed made that choice for themselves, and they are now sitting at home doing nothing by choice, refusing to go back to work..

Except...!!!

Don't be silly. Get a grip. Nobody had a choice in any of this.

[Nanalisa60]

Because you can live like a king on 80% of minimum wage!!

Maybe it should have cape it at £2000 a month Instead of £2500

But really why would you get so upset about people who work In hospitality, entertainment, and the beauty industry, all on a low wage.

Op is Just being mean if you ask me

[AhGoGo]

I am on furlough. I did not choose to be on furlough I was put on furlough. The reason I am on furlough is because my industry was told to close down. Overnight we went from being rather profitable to zero income.

When we can reopen again I will do back to work.

It’s that simple.

As I always say in these furlough threads that only serve to ‘other’ us. Majority of people I know on furlough are or close to minimum wage. They are receiving 80% of minimum wage currently. Get this magical figure of £2500 a month out your head, not a single person I know is receiving anything like that.

When our industries open, we will return to work (hopefully, the redundancies and closure are going to be terrible - see today’s announcement regarding Bella Italia/Cafe Rouge and the 6000 jobs in danger) and when we return to work we will also return to paying tax (as we did before we were put on furlough)

[KaptenKrusty]

What are you talking about? It’s not a choice? I’m furloughed on full pay - will go back the day they tell me too and I don’t have a choice. My company will stop my furlough payment From the day they expect me back?

You don’t just apply to go on furlough and sit at home instead of work ? Fuck sake 😂

[RaininSummer]

I am not saving anything much by not going to work. I walk most days and certainly don't buy coffees and food. It's costing me more in utilities and in my work week I am also using my own resources. 20 percent of my lowish wage actually does hurt and I don't know how I will pay bills if it continues without hitting my pitiful savings.

[Desiringonlychild]

Its not significantly more generous than what other countries are doing. Yes it is expensive but we need it to keep the economy going and so the jobless rate isn't 20% .

[mrsm43s]

I actually think 80% is fine, but I think it should only be for those who cannot work because their place of work needed to shut because of government regulations (e.g.pubs, hospitality, travel, shops that cannot open by law etc) and they cannot work from home. Government advise was always that the majority of people should go to your place of work if you cannot work from home, not that you shouldn't work!

I don't think that business that were allowed to operate should have been allowed to furlough staff. Nor do I think that it was the correct tool for shielded people, childcare issues etc. Not saying that those people shouldn't have had assistance, but I don't think it should have been through the furlough scheme - there could have been better schemes set up, and again, I think they should be limited to situations where they are following government advice, not just choosing not to use childcare when it is available, or choosing to self isolate if they are not in the shielded group of self isolating.

[Sparklingbrook]

Lol at everyone applying to be furloughed. Some employers are even paying the other 20%.

[marblesgoing]

Furloughed on 80% and employers have no income to top it up as our industry is not allowed to receive open as yet.

Contract doesn't allow me to work while on furlough.
It's the governments choice to close our business down.
I would rather be working and earning 100% plus bonuses.

My food and electric bills gone up substantially and my fuel bills not dropped by a lot as dh still working and travels some distance,therefore I'm worse off by quite a few hundred per month.

I consider myself lucky though that we can still cover our outgoings.

Bloody rude op to assume we are all the same eh

I work for a small business and we will be bloody lucky to have anything g to go back to if it carries on too long.

Look at the bigger picture op

[Paddingtonthebear]

I’m getting £700 a month furlough pay. No employer top up. I’d go back to work tomorrow if I could.

[WinterBerry7]

Would you rather I was made redundant instead?

The longer I’m on furlough the more chance there is that I have no job to go back to.

[OfUselessBooks]

I would be back at work like a shot - it is hell waiting every day to see if I'll be told I don't have a job to go back to. Had no choice in the matter, I was told on the Wednesday not to come in on the Thursday and been off ever since, 7 weeks ago. I much preferred it when I was still working.

[Waxonwaxoff0]

@mrsm43s what about businesses like the one I work for who are allowed to stay open but we have hardly any work coming in? There are usually 5 of us in the office, currently there is only enough work for one person to do. Should the other 4 of us just have been sacked instead?

[Imperfect12]

Well I certainly don't spend 20% of my salary on work related expenses. My drive is 15 minutes and I don't buy lunch or takeaway coffee. My utility and food bills have increased way more than my work expenses have decreased. If it wasn't for furlough I'd be hungry and homeless, as would my child. Is that preferable to you OP?
And no being furloughed was my employers decision, not mine. Honestly the shit people post on here .

[AhGoGo]

Even with furlough 856500 signed on for unemployment benefits in April.

Can you imagine if they hadn’t introduced the scheme?

[YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan]

I think it's been badly managed.

I'm on unpaid leave as I was refused furlough but they won't let me return to work either as I have a shielding letter and they won't take the risk of me catching it at work.

[chipsandgin]

It’s not a choice. Therefore people don’t need to be ‘encouraged’ back to work. They either go back to work when the company can justify it or they leave. There is no ‘stay on furlough if you fancy it’ option so the question is redundant (as will be anyone who refuses to return from furlough!).