If your an employer/have your own business, will you look back and remember which staff helped you out during this difficult time?

[workaholic9]

Just that really, genuinely curious.
I work in a small team as a key worker and apart from 1 other staff member, I am now the only person still working. My colleague works in a different part of the country so it’s now only me covering this area (the north west).

The rest of my team decided to self isolate when lockdown began, even though there was still work to be done and enough hours to go around. This has now resulted in me pretty much working 6 days a week and I am absolutely shattered beyond belief. Not that I would be able to do anything during my day off anyway, but it’s just nice being able to stay in bed and lounge around, have some time to myself and actually get time to go and do a bloody food shop!!!

I am still being paid my normal salary and I am extremely grateful to still have a job, I know there are many people who are much worse off. My boss has thanked me and shown his appreciation (sort of) but I can’t help but feel slightly frustrated about the information thats been passed onto me today. One of my colleagues (who is at home) has been told she’s being furloughed as is everyone else on the team who decided to self isolate. Now, I would completely understand if there wasn’t enough work to be done, but that is just not the case as mentioned above. There is plenty of work to go around and this would mean that I wouldn’t have to work myself into an early grave if the work was spread out fairly across the board.

I would also understand if my colleagues were high risk but that just isn’t the case either. I spoke to one of my colleagues today as she phoned me to discuss something about work, and she mentioned that she’d happily come back to work as “she’s so bored at home” but that there just isn’t enough work to go around. At this point I had to stop myself from screaming down the phone “WELL THERE IS, IT’S JUST BECAUSE MUGGINGS OVER HERE IS DOING IT ALL!!!”.

I love my job and get on well with my team (most of the time) but I just feel like I’ve drawn the short straw massively. I am 100% confident that there jobs are still safe even though they have been furloughed, as moving forward there is no way I would be able to cope with the work load. I am just about managing now. My boss had made a comment the other day about how he feels “some people are treating this as a national holiday, not a national crisis”. I have no idea if it was directed at my colleagues but it very well could be a possibility. If I decided to follow suit and self isolate, he would not have anyone else to run his business.

AIBU? As an employer, will you remember who kept your business going so to speak?

Following this.

I haven't been furloughed despite me asking to be because I do not have childcare and knowing what I do about the company finances I would have thought they would have just furloughed everyone.
I work PT but the amount of work I have been allocated is too much - I am stressed out enough trying to cover my normal hours let alone more.
They have furloughed others though but kept on their "pets" who really, really do not have work to do. So they are at home on full pay.
I have had no recognition at all, just emails telling me to do more as they need the money, emails telling me they will be bankrupt by June (so what is the point of me working my ass into the ground), requests to do x y and z which are way out of my job description.
I will be definitely looking for a new job once the restrictions are lifted. I may even quit now.
It works both ways - employers may recognise those that bent over backwards for them but employees will also remember how they were treated during this time.

I'm intrigued as to what you do @workaholic9 ! It's shocking that your colleagues are allowed to just self isolate on full pay or be furloughed leaving you to pick up the slack!

Have you told your boss that you are struggling? They may not realise if you're not complaining!

Quick amswer: yes of course. If you are losing what you have put your heart, soul and money into and if you might lose your home why wouldn't you remember the people who helped you at a very dark time?

I wish I could say, but if I do I think it would be very obvious that it's me if my colleagues/boss saw this thread. It's quite a "unique" business. I basically help other key workers (such a terrible description I know).

I haven't complained, but I think they know I'm burnt out. Again, I would understand if they had been furloughed from the beginning of lockdown, but the fact that they decided of their own backs to self isolate and then still get full pay whilst I go out and put my life at risk for the same wage, really irks me.

In all honestly, I don't think it's fair but what can I do.

I don't understand why they have been allowed to isolate if they are not in the at risk group? We've had a few like that at my work and they've been told if they don't come in they don't get paid. Obviously different if medical need to isolate

I don't understand either @PleaseSirMyGoat but that's what they've been told. I don't think my boss quite understands the ins and outs of all of this so he's just decided to furlough them.

The company has not been affected much by this. We're not as busy as what we would normally be, especially at this time of year but still busy enough for more than 1 person to work!

How on earth can your colleagues just choose to self isolate if they're not in the at risk categories? Did they just say we're not attending work anymore? Surely they have broken their contracts by doing so, unless they requested unpaid or annual leave which is what I had to do initially when the school's closed.

Regards to your question I think you're asking the wrong question. It's not up to employees who gets furloughed, that is your bosses decision, they can hardly go the extra mile when they've been told not to come in so I'd be asking do I want to work for a company that has furloughed too many staff to save money whilst heaping all the work on too few employees. I say that as a furloughed employee of such a company, they've furloughed 80% of staff whilst takings are down 50%, my colleagues left behind are at breaking point. Meanwhile I've been monitoring the response of other employers in our industry and it's certainly been eye opening as to which ones give a shit about their staff and which ones are willing to risk their staff's health in the name of profit, taking stress/burnout as well as covid. When this is all over I'll be looking to move on and I know exactly which companies I'll be applying to.

It will be remembered.

My company is owne by 2 brothers. They are dicks, don't get me wrong. But they were trying to work out how to keep us all working whilst setting all the office staff as work from home.

The few that kicked off it wasn't happening fast enough (we had 200 laptops bought nd delivered in 2 days) or wanted to be one of the first to be wfh, are viewed by senior leadership quite poorly.

They had no reasons to want to be first. They were allocating laptops to those had medical need first, so they didn't have to come in.

We have been wfh weeks before we were actually locked down.

Most staff have now been furloughed. Not me. I am doing all my teams work, which is fun.

But as we do work for the NHS, we are bring some back next week. All the people who kicked off are not on the list to come back. And honestly, if it comes to redundancy, I am guessing it will be them.

Those of us that have remained working, working 13 hours days and getting extra annual leave and a bonus.

That is exactly what happened @BlueGheko. They decided to self isolate and assumed they would be paid ssp but my colleague (the one I spoke to today) mentioned that she'd emailed our boss asking if they were going to receive ssp or furlough and his reply was "yes you'll be furloughed, I'm just trying to sort it all out" or something along those lines. My colleague actually told me two weeks ago that she went to the GP and he confirmed that she was not high risk

Yes absolutely we have a restaurant which has had to close and a takeaway which is open. Our staff, bar two, decided they wanted to be furloughed. My DH is now working 7 nights a week, he is v grateful for the one chef that has
stayed.

We're closed now, but there was a period where we were open and trying to find solutions to keep everyone going, before furlough was announced. We definitely know and will remember which staff were helpful, considerate, appreciative etc and which just put obstacles in our way.

Your boss is likely furloughing because they can claim that money more quickly. There's no ssp reclaim process yet

I am in the same boat. Pretty much doing 2 or 3 peoples job! If theres no bonus or salary raise after this is all over I will leave. However I have had a call from our CEO the other day (business of 700+ employees) thanking me for my hard work so will see how they will reward me after lockdown.

It's nice to hear some of you appreciate your staff and that some people work for kind and caring employers

Your boss sounds rather incompetent to be fair. There's a lot of grey areas around furlough and some of these companies might find they won't get the payments from the government because an awful lot of employers have just seen this as a green light to saving money and went ahead and furloughed the majority of their staff when actually there's still plenty work coming in and they're getting away with paying one person to do the job of 4. SSP is only payable when someone is actually sick, I would be sacked for not coming into work in the circumstances you describe. Your boss doesn't seem to have the first clue about employment law, which is fortunate for your colleagues.

I’m the same, except I have also had a pay cut. Most staff have been furloughed and I’m working more hours than ever while looking after a 3 year old. It feels very unfair.

I bloody hope so. I've not been furloughed but others have. It better mean something on the other side.

I know this is a daft question but have you told your boss the hours you are working?

Have you asked if when he is thinking about furlough if he could think about not furloughing everyone and instead keep someone to help you as the chances are you won't be able to carry on alone much longer.

Better to make sure it is clear now before anything official happens.

I agree @BlueGheko, he's lovely but doesn't have the first clue about running a business or managing his staff imo.

That's awful @Littleelffriend, I bet it makes you wonder why you bother working so hard! I hope things get better for you

He definitely knows how many hours/days I've been working recently. My supervisor allocates the work but my boss has to check it over and confirm it's okay before we can proceed.

The thing is, I'm happy to work and in all honestly I think I'd go stir crazy if I was at home 24/7, it's keeping me sane. I just didn't sign on to work 6 days a week, I'm knackered!

Surely you can’t say you are going to self-isolate and then expect to be furloughed. They are separate things. Furlough is only if there’s not enough work right now. If there’s work, you can’t be furloughed.

I think the problem lies with your boss, he’s allowing your colleagues to do this.
Why would he thank you when he’s quite happy to let you do their work.
WhT happens if you need to isolate. This situation is crazy.

Thanks . I believe they can rotate who is furloughed, could you ask for that? I don’t want to be furloughed as I believe they will be first in line for redundancies, and I don’t think any of the furlough money has actually been paid yet, which would also worry me.

Nice choice of name, OP!
Possibly your boss is pissed off that lots of the team are just going home with no real reason, and cannot yet be forced back in to work. Why should they continue to be paid by your boss when they refuse to work for no reason? Doesn't furlough mean that govt pays them 80%, and it's up to your boss if they top up the 20%?
Sounds like the boss will remember!
People do not forget their staff taking the piss.

That's what I thought @daisypond but apparently he is happy to furlough them even though there is still work available.

So have you specifically said that you're unhappy to have to be working such long hours ? You don't have to complain about your colleagues getting furlough, you just have to say that the workload is too much for one person.