AIBU to not do training whilst on furlough

[GreyShadow]

I'm in the middle of furlough, my boss has phoned me and told me that I have to do training tomorrow, by video.

I have already planned to take my LO to opticians at the time of the training. This training is not important to the company and can be done easily on my return.

There is a bit of a back story in that this boss is a complete control freak and passive aggressive bully.

AIBU not to cancel my appointment and tell my boss I can't make the training. I'm already in the bad books as don't make the daily team conf call, which is illegal in my eyes. My boss says it's just "catching up" and it's ok to do that on furlough.

Our team are all in their early 20's and I feel he is bullying control freak.

I have googled about furlough and yes we are allowed to train but can we be forced?

[sobersides]

Well done for taking it on the chin OP. If its any consolation I would be totally cheesed off if I had an appointment and was only given one days notice.

[Itwasnoaccident9786756453]

Yes you're right, this will be a cancel the cheque.

[Itwasnoaccident9786756453]

You're furloughed, not on holiday!!

[BlingLoving]

Nice update OP. Also, if there's a backstory and you have a wanker boss, you need to be even more sure that you are behaving impeccably at all times because it's likely he'll be trying to get rid of you and any ammunition you give him, no matter how justified, will work against you!

[june2007]

YABU I done traiing courses on Furlough.

[Blackdog19]

Well done OP for taking all the advice on board.

[seenbeensbean]

@MrsTolerance

You are being unreasonable. You’re being paid and I think being difficult about this would not stand you in good stead if redundancies are made. Rearrange the appointment at the opticians

This. How much do you want to be made redundant ?

[ultrablue]

This training is not important to the company and can be done easily on my return.

Not important or mandatory?

We have a legal training module that has to be repeated each and every year by a set date. I've been working crazy hours, shift now starts at 3am, I had to work over Saturday morning to complete it , couldn't do it during my shift as I was cover for another department, I stayed and completed it because I needed to and I need my job.

[SisterAgatha]

It’s best for you to do the training so that it can’t be held against you when or if they make redundancies. If you haven’t completed the training and others have, your skills aren’t comparable.

[Andylion]

In terms of training tomorrow that he only asked you about today, YANBU to not want to do it at such short notice when you have somewhere else to be.

Maybe it was mentioned at one of the daily conference calls the OP missed.

[Starlightstarbright1]

Good update op.

If you employer is so awful hopefully the training will help you find another job in the future

[TeaAndHobnob]

I think you need to be a bit flexible here.

You're on furlough but you could be asked back to work at any time and it is totally reasonable to be asked to do training. I appreciate it is short notice but an opticians appt can be rearranged and so that's what you should do. I would be wary of coming across as obstructive or unwilling.

[Carolbaskinstiger]

Nice update op - hope the training goes well.

[TerrapinStation]

@luckylavender

Team Conference Call probably illegal but training isn't. You're not on holiday, this isn't your own time. If you don't want your job back, do whatever you want. I was on furlough for 5 weeks & I stayed in touch with my boss & my team.

Please don't give the wrong information, it's fine to have team catch up calls on furlough, why do you think it's illegal?

[Buttonsorbows]

YABU - you're not on holiday, and if they need to get rid of staff, you'll be front of the queue

[Devlesko]

I'm sure somebody wants your job.
There's going to be a lot of redundancies.

[Libertylee]

I can’t understand why you’re not taking part in the daily check ins/training. It is allowed on furlough, and you’re just marking yourself out as difficult. YABU.

[Quaversplease]

@luckylavender I'm not sure the team call is illegal. I've been furloughed since April and we have daily calls. They are 99% social plus an update on what is happening to the company around the world. It's also a morale and well being thing, making sure we're all coping.

I work for a major global company and they tend to watch the law very carefully.

[luckylavender]

Team Conference Call probably illegal but training isn't. You're not on holiday, this isn't your own time. If you don't want your job back, do whatever you want. I was on furlough for 5 weeks & I stayed in touch with my boss & my team.

[PleasantVille]

@GreyShadow

Wow, not often you see an overwhelming response, so I can concur, I am absolutely being unreasonable. So I will take that onboard and rearrange the appointment.

Luckily I haven't been on furlough since March, just 2 weeks. There is a back story to my bullying boss which has obviously clouded my judgement.

Thanks Mnet for making me see reason. I'll step away from the thread now as there will be 20 million people who won't have read the whole thread and will continue to tell me what a terrible employee I am. Thanks again for setting me straight :)

Your employer has obviously furloughed you at the latest possible date, firstly you would have got completely different answers if you put that critical fact in any of your other posts and secondly I'd now be aware that this could be a bad sign, they've got all the work they can out of you and now might be getting the government to pay for your redundancy period.

Hopefully not but it has happened to a friend on of DB's

[ThanosSavedMe]

Good luck with it all @GreyShadow

[Shinyletsbebadguys]

Fair play OP it's not often someone takes on board the responses on MN. You put your hands up entirely fair enough.

[Aesopfable]

the employer can’t expect her to be on standby while she’s furloughed in case there’s something they need her to do

That is exactly what furlough is for - to allow staff to be on standby in case there is something they need her to do. Instead of training they could have asked her to return to work tomorrow on her normal hours.

[PurpleDaisies]

Poster admits to being unreasonable.

Well done op, glad you’ve made the right decision.

[shushymcshush]

The rules said you should not work for your employer whilst on furlough, the argument being that if you are required to work, then there is no need for your job to be furloughed and the employer is basically taking the proverbial.

There is a helpful section here on training - what is an isn't allowed: www.lewissilkin.com/en/insights/furloughing-employefaqs-for-employers-on-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

So a training session on how to be safe in work with new ways of working would be ok. Training on a new sales system for example would not.

Agree with other posters. It is a PITA, you've made arrangements and its tough juggling childcare when you get last minute requests from your employer. But those who are seen to be boat rockers, unhelpful/unco-operative (however valid your reasons) will be remembered by employers in not a favourable light.