DH work forcing him to claim annual leave instead of 80%

[CrazyToast]

My DH's job is asking him to claim the last two weeks away from work as annual leave, and saying they will only start his 80% furlough from March 30th. They made him stop work on 17th and refused to let him work from home, intially saying it would be unpaid leave but they've backtracked on that now. The Government said the 80% could be backdated to March 1st so it seems like the company are trying to soak up staff annual leave for some reason---probably because the company is failing and most people are going to be made redundant?

Is there anything he can do to challenge this? At the end of the day, we'll have the money but it doesn't seem ok that he has to use his AL when the 80% scheme covers the time he was made to have off.

Are they being unreasonable to this? Or will we just have to suck it up?

Can he actually work from home? If he can then there is no excuse for what they are doing.
My DH can not work from home and for comparison, he's been told he has to work with his vulnerable clients (support work in the community) without adequate PPE or take indefinite unpaid leave.
It's happening to a lot of us.

Our company have just announce mass furloughing of staff but it doesn't start until next week, meanwhile I've had to use emergency annual leave as no childcare. It's just the way it is and will hopefully ensure we all have jobs to go back to. Really it's the least of my worries right now.

OP Id be pissed off as well but another way of looking at it......most annual leave is Jan to Dec.....If we are shut down for several months that means people will have their annual leave entitlement to take in the last few months of the year. This would be a massive problem for most businesses to deal with, especially if they are a small / medium business.

My work has cancelled my annual leave - I had booked the first week of Easter off. I have to go into work while others not needed are claiming the 80%. That's what I get for being good at my job. I'm a single mum with two kids (on their own) at home. All I can hope is that they shut us down soon

I don't think it's unreasonable for staff to have to use some of their annual leave but would think it unfair if it doesn't leave them any for the rest of the year. Yes, it might save the company money in that they won't have to pay staff in lieu of untaken leave, if their employment ends for whatever reason. But if that helps to keep the business financially viable then it's a good thing.

And it's not as if anyone will be able to go on holiday anytime this year...