To report my employer for furlough fraud

[djeorh]

Furloughed for over 3 months but carried on working - at first I was told I didn't have to but then more and more work was sent my way including big projects that needed to be done ASAP.

These projects are now 80% of the way done as I've been doing them on furlough. However I now find out they are considering making me redundant or offering me a part time contract in September once projects are done.

I feel they have taken advantage of me and pressured me to do the projects on furlough and then hit me with this bombshell. I'm so angry I want to report them, but doing so would probably make the company go under and make innocent colleagues lose their jobs.

I would probably wait to see if they do make you redundant or change your contract though. If they don’t then I wouldn’t give up a good job unless I had another one to go to

Definitely report them. My company has used the furlough scheme by the book so it makes me cross that others are taking advantage knowing the employee will probably go along with it for fear of redundancy.

Afaik being "quiet" is not a reason to keep claiming furlough

I thought that was exactly the reason for furlough?

I work for a solicitors. Property work dropped off a cliff - secretaries were furloughed. Private Client (wills and probate) was manic - secretaries not furloughed.

OP they've taken the piss, please report them.

Definitely report.

You can report furlough fraud to HMRC here:
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc

Please report them.
The country is going to paying this off for God knows how many years.
I have no problem with companies who have had to furlough for genuine reasons and stuck to the rules, but yours is taking the piss.

They certainly deserve to be reported (and more). BUT if I were you I would not do anything yet except let them know that you are considering reporting them. You have them over a barrel, which might be useful if you want to avoid redundancy and/or a part time contract.

You can report furlough fraud to HMRC here:

Call me cynical, but I suspect the other end of that is piped directly into the bin. I can't see there being a great political appetite for admitting the furlough scheme - the jewel in the crown of the UKs world beating response to C-19 - was shambolic enough to allow such casual fraud.

I wonder if there's a Facebook or Twitter page to post it to so the whole world can know.

But, if you trust - really trust HMRC - to do the right thing, go ahead.

@StCharlotte

I thought it was to help slow the spread of corona and allow, where necessary, companies to put things in place for the safety of employees in terms of corona risk

Happy to be proved wrong though as hopefully that might mean dh has more of a chance of keeping his job

Please report them. It's fraud and it's disgusting that they've taken advantage of the situation.

From the HMRC website:

"Do not try to find out more about the tax evasion or let anyone know you’re making a report. You do not have to give your personal details, and any information will be treated as confidential."

REPORT REPORT REPORT
Those are your taxes they are fraudulently stealing as much as anyone else's.

I can't see there being a great political appetite for admitting the furlough scheme - the jewel in the crown of the UKs world beating response to C-19 - was shambolic enough to allow such casual fraud.

On the contrary, I think there's always a great political appetite for showing that companies are not being allowed to get away with defrauding the taxpayer. And this will be a LOT easier to pursue than getting Amazon to pay tax.

Absolutely report with a second’s hesitation. They are thieves taking advantage of a system put in place to help people. It’s no different to tax or benefit fraud.

Do not, as others have suggested, threaten them with reporting if they make you redundant. Those assisting in furlough defraud are also likely to face prosecution.

I would check the accounts online first, having you work on furlough may have been the only way to keep you and others employed so you all have jobs to go back to.

Ask yourself, will you find another job easily, what will you gain from reporting it?

Karma and all that.

Some people have made shocking comments - it was ridiculous in the first place to offer people 80% to do nothing.

Absolutely no incentive for lazy folk to return to work with that meal ticket.

Some folk need to read into expenses and how much staff and running a business actually costs, that money depletes pretty quickly when there is no money coming into the business.

I’d be more concerned with the tax payers money (still) being used for nightingale hospitals rather than invested in business and people who need it:

The whole point of furlough is that you CANNOT work whilst furloughed. I’ve been furloughed since mid March (my whole company is back to work bar me, i only fo 3 days a week and was employed to help with backlog of work/additional work but they don’t need me back yet) you shouldn’t have done any of that work in the first place. They’re using government/tax payer money to pay your wage whilst you do all the work for them? Report them!

Also the furlough scheme was to prevent as many job losses as possible, not just use it as a way to force people to work regardless while being paid by the tax payer and not the company. The fact you’re possibly being made redundant as well is disgusting. Report

@marpan it’s still illegal. You might as well say paying cash in hand or not declaring vat is fine if it keeps a company going.

Yanbu

HMRC is doing a lot of work at the moment around planning what post payment JRS (and SEISS) compliance will look like. So yes, report. It will be taken seriously and hopefully all those employers who have taken the piss during this period will be caught out.

Definitely report them. Providing you know you'll be able to get a new job elsewhere if they do make you redundant, I wouldn't hesitate

Cheeky bastards. Its actually so frustrating to read these threads. And depressing

Report x 1000

[quote ILoveTotoro]@StCharlotte

I thought it was to help slow the spread of corona and allow, where necessary, companies to put things in place for the safety of employees in terms of corona risk

Happy to be proved wrong though as hopefully that might mean dh has more of a chance of keeping his job [/quote]
I'm also happy to be corrected if I'm wrong

I thought its formal name was "Job Retention Scheme" so that while companies or parts of companies weren't bringing in any money, it would hopefully keep their jobs safe for "when this is all over". Don't imagine the govt [or us eventually] were expecting to be paying for massive companies like BA and Primark etc

It will obviously have had the health benefit of keeping many people at home as well.

They committed fraud bo doubt but maybe so did you so would think twice of reporting. Because our contracts states we are not to do work for the company