To think that as I am furloughed, my employer shouldn’t be expecting me to be spending my time doing training courses?

[Anquin]

I’ve been furloughed for 8 weeks and am likely to remain on furlough for another few weeks. My boss wants me to pick online courses to do which will benefit the Company if or when I return to work.
At the same time, the senior management are sending weekly updates that are increasingly negative about the future of the Company.
I find it extremely difficult to self-learn, and I’m becoming more worried about the future as I think I might be made redundant. My immediate boss keeps asking how the training is going (we have meetings weekly to catch up) and I’m getting really upset and anxious about it.
AIBU to think that if I’m on furlough I should be able to spend my day at home doing gardening etc. without worrying about training?

Is it free training not a fantastic opportunity for CPD, especially if you think you might be made redundant?

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for them to ask at all and as I said, a good opportunity for you

Legally on Furlough you should not be doing any work including training.

I've had to do some training for work too. I'm on 80% wages and not getting paid extra for training, even though I sent them a screenshot of where it says that training should be paid at National minimum wage. I'm not even on national minimum wage as the wages went up in April but I'm still on sale amount I was on in March so my wages haven't gone up in line with NMW increases. I queried this too and was told when I'm back to work they will sort this out but when I'm on furlough it will remain at the old amount which is £8.40p.h
None of it seems fair tbh and I think they are totally taking the piss

@spiritessence

You have some of this wrong. People on furlough are on it for a number of reasons and are not being paid just to "sit at home"
I'm a keyworker too but haven't been able to go to work even if I wanted to

@winniestone37

This isn't true Winnie. You can do training whilst on furlough but it has to be paid at NMW at least for the hours that you train for.

You're getting paid to do nothing!! So asking you to use part of your time to better yourself for when you return to work is more than fair. Seriously some people expect everything for nothing! There are people who dont have the option other than to work at the moment...I'm sure the key workers who are working and some having to stay away from their families would jump at the chance to stay home be paid to just do a few online training courses. Yes YABU! 100%

Are you serious? Assuming this is not a wind up then it’s pathetic.
I’m working from 6am to 8pm on a massive pay cut to try to keep things going and not have to make anyone on my team redundant and you come out with self indulgent rubbish like this? I’m a key worker but not front line - I can only imagine how a doctor or nurse reading your post would feel. Surely if you do a training course you will be more employable if you are made redundant, which you sound as if you richly deserve. What a lazy attitude at a time like this.

Definitely use the time to train, they're paying for it and training will benefit you. It's a win win situation.

I'm not furloughed so I'm working my arse off. I don't think it's unreasonable for your employers to ask you to do some training whilst they are still paying you, and I do think YABU to whinge about it because you'd rather do nothing for your pay.
The training may even benefit you even if it does all go tits up

Training should not be done while furloughed as it forms part of your employment and should be done in work hours, where you are being paid by the employer.

Surely choosing online courses to benefit company and individual is a winner all round. If your company hits hard times then you are in a much better position to move on.

Training should not be done while furloughed as it forms part of your employment and should be done in work hours, where you are being paid by the employer.

I think you'll find that jobsowrths who take this view will be first in the redundancy line. It's pretty short sighted not to take advantage of free training under the circumstances.

@lemongrassmartini1989

Training should not be done while furloughed as it forms part of your employment and should be done in work hours, where you are being paid by the employer.

As has been said many times before on this post the government rules of furlough specifically allow training. Furlough is not a holiday it is designed to support people who might otherwise not be paid and to allow employers and businesses to be able to get back on their feet more quickly with able employees who are up to speed and potentially better trained than before

I have had to give up a couple of days at work because they want us to return and i dont have child care. I found the cover myself so i didnt have 2 put my employer out. And u dont want to do some trainin evan tho ur still being paid

Is this a joke post?

Get as much free training as you can then if worse case scenario you are made redundant you’ll have more to put on your cv so makes you a better option to other companies. Could also show you are willing to train for your company in your own time meaning they’d make other who aren’t redundant first 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’ll keep you occupied can do little bit each day

Your getting paid aren’t you? Furlough isn’t a holiday for you to enjoy your self and forget about work

Look at it from the employers point of view. Say they currently employ 100 people. 70 of them do as requested, do some online courses and improve their worth to the company. 30 of them get difficult, refuse to help, do not do any training. The business reopens. But as the economy has been devastated they need to cut their overheads, and reduce staffing levels by 30%. Who would be top of your list for the chop? Bear in mind that an awful lot of companies are going through the same at the time the 30% are out of work, 30% of other companies are out of work too, so there will be fewer jobs at lower wages. Job seekers allowance is about £80 per week.

As far as I know they are allowed to have you train whilst on furlough. But that is going back weeks when I read about it.

As a long term tax and national insurance payer , I don’t want to be furloughed. Furlough was not a choice . I wish I could work from home on full pay knowing I’ve got a job to go back to . I’m threatened with redundancy next month after more than 23 years in my current job . It’s going to be a really tough time for the unemployed. I get upset when people make comments that we are sitting at home paid for by the tax payer . I still pay tax and national insurance from my pay . I’m worried sick . The anxiety about our future amongst my colleagues is literally life threatening. We are supposed to be into a kinder world . It certainly doesn’t feel like it .

Get off ya lazy butt and better yourself ffs!

I agree Annie8294. My DP is furloughed. The small business he works for have mothballed the company and all staff have been furloughed. They are not allowed to work elsewhere. They were told to try and enjoy the time off as much as possible and return to work refreshed. We were planning to pay for some decorating, diy and garden work this year so decided we may as well spend the time doing that to save money. Unfortunately things haven’t picked up at work as expected and my DP will most probably be made redundant. Reading this thread Makes me feel as if my DP is some sort of pariah. We have tried to make the best of our situation and due to the money saving aspect thought we were being sensible. Awful thread.

FGS. Other people are paying 80% of your wages and your employer is probably fighting for survival. Heaven forfend that anybody should expect you to get off your fat arse and contribute something during the current crisis.

Give me strength,

@lemongrassmartini1989

Training should not be done while furloughed as it forms part of your employment and should be done in work hours, where you are being paid by the employer.

You appear not to be aware of the specific condition of the furlough scheme already posted about 50 times.

You can be asked to do training