Has anyone left maternity leave and asked to be furloughed?

[YeWillYeWillYeWillFather]

I've read on sites such as pregnant then screwed and maternity action that it is possible to go back to work and ask to be furloughed. Has anyone done this?

I am currently on SMP which is coming to an end and I was planning to take the last 3 months of unpaid maternity leave but if my company can furlough me and it will be at no extra cost to them (is that right?) then would it be reasonable to ask? Work know I want to take the last 3 months unpaid.

Would be interested to know if anyone has requested this or if you are an employer and have been asked the same thing. Thank you!

You can certainly ask but be aware if they need you back to actually work they only need to give short notice - would you be ok with that?

The purpose of furlough isn’t to extend your paid maternity leave. Seriously. No, It’s wrong

Furlough isn’t so you get more time off work. The U.K. is in absolutely crippling debt and your child will be the one that will suffer from this (as will all our children).

Either you take unpaid leave or go back to work.

@OverTheRainbow88

The purpose of furlough isn’t to extend your paid maternity leave. Seriously. No, It’s wrong

I am just looking for others experience of this. I have been on £150 a week SMP, not living the life of Riley I think it's ok to wonder about it!

@HollyBollyBooBoo

You can certainly ask but be aware if they need you back to actually work they only need to give short notice - would you be ok with that?

Thanks @HollyBollyBooBoo I suppose if I did ask and work were fine with it I would need to be ready to return at short notice and have childcare worked out

Employers still need to pay pension and NI contributions for furloughed employees so it's not in your employer's financial interest to do this.

@GintyMcGinty

Employers still need to pay pension and NI contributions for furloughed employees so it's not in your employer's financial interest to do this.

Plus annual leave needs to be paid at 100%, so any annual leave taken whilst on furlough would need to be topped up by them.

Aside from that aspect, that’s not what furlough was designed for. The misuse of furlough payments has meant other industries have not been able to get support when they needed and we’ll be paying off this debt forevermore. I can’t seriously believe that Maternity Action and Pregnant then Screwed are suggesting this as an option to extend Maternity leave. By the way, nobody was assuming you were living the life of Riley on Maternity leave, they were stating that is not the purpose of furlough. If you budgeted and we’re comfortable with 3 months unpaid leave beforehand, that shouldn’t change now because the government are giving out ‘free’ money

Thank you @GintyMcGinty - this is the kind of thing I was wondering. As far as I am aware my employer is still paying pension contributions and NI although I think some of this can be claimed back from the HMRC. I would not be interested in looking into it if the company would be any worse off.

Also do they have people on furlough already? The point of the scheme is to retain jobs despite there not being enough work, if there's work for you to do it wouldn't be appropriate to use the scheme. And there is an administrative burden of doing the calculations and the claims, which if it's entirely for your benefit, I'd be a bit with HR.

I despair

@InTheNightWeWillWish yes you are correct annual leave too.

@YeWillYeWillYeWillFather I'm afraid employers Connor claim NI or pension contributions back from HMRC. They must hear those costs in full.

I did this back in April. I wasn't due to return until July but asked the question, seemed a bit cheeky but they were up for it. I got 3 months at 80% pay. I did feel pretty guilty but then tbh my work have been claiming furlough for everyone who has been working the whole time. And I imagine if I'd asked the question and they said no then they might've done it anyway and pocketed the difference so better in my pocket than theirs.

Cannot not Connor typo sorry

Is your company actually even using the furlough scheme? Has it struggled from the pandemic? Is your role affected by the current circumstances? As you don’t mention any of these things I’m assuming not in which case yabvu to even be thinking about it.

In any event, even if they are using furlough, you’ve already planned to be off for 3 months unpaid. The furlough scheme is absolutely not there to support you having extra paid time off. My husbands company is really only going to survive thanks to furlough and other government schemes so hearing people trying to find ways to use it like this is really annoying.

Alright thanks everyone. I was asking for advice and I got it. I think reading about this on the sites that I did, made it feel like a reasonable request but I agree it's not in anyone's best interests!
MN is harsh so I think I'll go back to being a lurker!

Yes I did this. My request was granted, I started furlough then got made redundant!

I think they may take a dim view of you if you ask.

Loads of judgement here but ultimately we're all going to be paying for furlough for years to come so I don't judge you at all.

Think I'm in a similar position, I'm coming to the end of the full year of maternity and about 6 weeks ago my work put more of my team on furlough - I work in events. Initially HR rang to ask if I wanted to go on furlough but then quickly retracted it when they realised under the new furlough period you need to give 8 weeks notice before shifting from maternity to furlough. For me I had 8 weeks left so it wouldn't have worked.

I really think you've had a shit enough year as it is, have likely missed out on so much that you shouldn't feel too bad for taking a few weeks furlough if you're able to.

Sorry, a couple of you have asked and I've forgotten to respond. Yes the company have furloughed staff, some of which I know they were planning to make redundant before this all happened so they've been happy to keep people on the payroll. I do think I will likely be at risk of redundancy but I won't officially hear about that until I return.

Interesting to hear about those of you who have done it and your companies that were happy. Thank you!

Shocking

My company is about to pay all the furlough money back. We’ve survived- had redundancies and it’s not been easy for sure - but it’s the right thing to do. It puts us in a much worse financial state paying it all back, but we’re not close to the brink and can’t justify keeping it. It’s just so wrong to take it when other industries are on their knees and being laid off.

Perhaps people should see the bigger picture here. Furlough is a lifeline, not a lifestyle choice.

At the end I the day if they need to put people on furlough it doesn't hurt to ask to be considered. Many people have put my themselves forward as volunteers. Many need to for childcare reasons.

I have to say though, I don’t judge the OP. The company will set the tone and like she said, could be at risk of redundancy. I just think as a society we need to see the bigger picture. That means business leaders etc acting with integrity... not the workers themselves x

What are u going to do if they agreed to this then asked you to work at 48 hours notice, which they can legally do. Or to do training, which is allowed under the furlough rules. Far better to actually know you're off and to take the financial hit than to have to scrabble around for childcare at short notice. Furlough is a job support scheme, not a paid maternity leave option

Pffffft ‘pregnant then screwed’ should be renamed ‘pregnant attempting to screw the workplace’

I don’t blame you for enquiring about it as a prominent site seems to be advocating for it but honestly? It’s a poor choice.