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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that furlough at 80% is FAR too generous.....

480 replies

loveyouradvice · 05/11/2020 20:13

I'm just interested about what others think... I think fine to do this for first three months but really do feel it should be down to 60% or 70% maximum by now....

People on 80% of salary, with no travel or expenses related to working away from home, are really not doing badly .... especially since so much less to spend your money on

It is everyone else I think is having a tough time - whether its kids not getting Free School Meals in holidays, or freelancers or those who've lost their jobs....

I would prefer the "pain" to be shared.... so if on furlough, yes lots of free time and yes, having to tighten your belt a bit....

Would it not be better to pay LESS in furlough - I'm thinking around 65% - and MORE to those who don't qualify but are having a very tough time financially..... ?

OP posts:
everybodysang · 06/11/2020 11:36

oh do fuck off

Bouncycastle12 · 06/11/2020 11:40

@Newnamenewopenme I honestly have never met a single expert in any field who would say they had nothing else to learn. And even if they did, they could find somewhere to volunteer.

NikeDeLaSwoosh · 06/11/2020 11:45

Should we apply this to the obese who codt the nhs a lot more than those who are slim?

We already do in the form of the sugar tax, and the rationing of healthcare to obese patients (ivf, for example)

We also heavily tax smokers, those who drink alcohol and those who pollute the environment through petrol/diesel usage in an attempt to offset the cost they present to society.

Watermelon999 · 06/11/2020 11:53

Haven’t read the thread but I completely agree with you @loveyouradvice

I think some people on higher salaries are saving lots with reduced expenses, and laughing their socks off at the poor sods doing all the work for a little bit more.

I’d offer 100% to those who are willing to retrain temporarily to help out somewhere which was needed eg schools, nhs, care homes, street cleaners, deliveries etc.

I’d offer 50% to those who don’t want to do the above.

MynephewR · 06/11/2020 11:56

DH and I are both back on furlough, we work in the same restaurant. DH will still be working part time (instead of 60 hours pw on full pay) to cook takeaways but I am not working. We have a 7 min drive to work so the money saved on diesel is not a lot, we get free staff meals at work so no need to take meals in plus DH (who has the biggest appetite) often eats 2 or 3 meals a day at work because some days he works from 8am-9pm, so our food shopping will skyrocket again as it did during the first lock down. Our utilities will go up because we will be at home much more. Our dcs are still growing and needing the usual clothes and stuff that they do. We have lost 20% of my wage plus my tips which make up a good deal of my earnings and probably about 10% of dh's wage, as he will be getting full pay for the hours he works and 80% for the hours he doesn't. We will be worse off, we will cope but it's going to be one hell of a tough Christmas.

Any yes I'm on NMW and work part time, believe me I'm getting fuck all money on furlough but I appreciate it and it's better than nothing.

MiaMarshmallows · 06/11/2020 12:19

High earners working from home are getting stick as well. Yes they may be fortunate but it's hard for them as well, just in different ways.

YarToTheNar · 06/11/2020 12:21

This is what I mean when I said it's the new benefits bashing.

Okay so some people (probably the minority because people don't tend to post that they are struggling to put food on their table or pay their bills on their Facebook page), might be enjoying furlough. Just like some people take the piss out of the benefit system.

As per the PP, you cannot and will not ever, please everyone. There will always be piss takers. But what is the alternative? The people who are genuinely in need of help don't receive it just so you don't have to see Jackie posting what a wonderful time she's having on furlough on FB?

It annoys me too in some cases but I'd much rather that than the alternative of thousands struggling and losing jobs etc...

And I think the main thing that's gets missed on these threads is this has been such a rushed scheme in the grand scheme of things. It was needed urgently to deal with a very sudden problem and stop huge numbers being out of work. There is room for error, there is room for companies to take the piss, absolutely. But I don't think that was the main concern at the time, it was getting support out to those who needed it fast.

I don't have any skin in this game, my husband is self employed but he's done okay throughout and I'm working and have been since the start. But I'm not naive enough to believe it's been one big holiday for the majority of people on furlough.

Some people at my work place were furloughed. It was horrible for them. One of my friends there, a single mother, has been made redundant now. It's been hell for her. I'm not going to start being a dick about it because she might post a picture on SM of her baking cupcakes with her kids whilst I'm working. I know where she'd rather be and I know she's just trying to put on a brave face for her children whilst wondering what the hell she's going to do.

WhentheDealGoesDown · 06/11/2020 12:24

The caps too high but no one should get less than minimum wage so it should be 100% up to equal minimum wage and capped so 80% of pay is no more than £1500

YardleyX · 06/11/2020 12:30

NMW is about £1200ish per month of working full time.

80% of this is certainly not unreasonable.

Setting the cap at £2500 though is very generous indeed.

WhentheDealGoesDown · 06/11/2020 12:37

Worse is the amount of fraud with the Bounceback loans where people are setting up fraudulent companies to clam the £50k and not much seems to be done about it

dontdisturbmenow · 06/11/2020 12:45

How do you know? Imagine if someone was told they had developed a serious condition like motor neurone disease or suffered life changing injuries in a car crash? They would have had no choice but to go on UC, when they had a mortgage, bills to pay, children to support and go through demeaning PIP assessments, where the assessors lie and cheat
There are protection insurance for these sad outcome. They are none that exist for being out on furlough.

YarToTheNar · 06/11/2020 12:45

@YardleyX

NMW is about £1200ish per month of working full time.

80% of this is certainly not unreasonable.

Setting the cap at £2500 though is very generous indeed.

It's all relative though isn't it. Someone earning £2.5k is likely to have higher outgoings per month than someone who was already on NMW.

People live within their means. I know I couldn't just suddenly afford a drop to MW, it's naive to think many people who usually earn more than that could.

Jayne35 · 06/11/2020 12:48

I was furloughed during the last lockdown, went back in July on flexible furlough as due to COVID measures the business could only run at half capacity. As it’s a hotel they will remain open and I will work as much as I can for 100% pay but the 80% furlough is a life saver when there aren’t many hours available. I would prefer to be doing my full 40 hours than sat at home.

YarToTheNar · 06/11/2020 12:57

And as for the tax, should we only pay tax for the things that directly affect us now? If someone doesn't have children in school can they get a tax refund? Should smokers or overweight people have to pay more NI?

We've only just finished paying off a world war haven't we? I wasn't even alive then, I certainly didn't ask to be part of a war, why should I pay?

This is our war in a way. Yes we'll likely be paying for it through taxes as well we do everything else and have done for a long time. No point pointing fingers at each other and trying to decide between ourselves who deserves to pay more.

nosswith · 06/11/2020 12:58

Furlough should in my opinion have the floor of someone being guaranteed the minimum wage, and also require part-time rather than some being at home and others not.

VeganVeal · 06/11/2020 13:01

I think people on furlough should be helping out in the community, litter picking and the like

DuzzyFuck · 06/11/2020 13:10

Haven't had time to read the full thread. For workers on NMW I think they should be getting 100%. For others on higher incomes the 80% figure is very generous.

I've been on 66.66% of my usual salary since March (I'm not furloughed but our whole company has been cut to part time hours) and while it's not been a walk in the park I can pay my bills and haven't needed to take any payment holidays. There must be many others in the same boat as me who could get by on less than 80%.

If nothing else then I think this year will have been a lesson to some in living within their means and creating a safety net for themselves rather than spending every penny of every paycheck - obviously I'm not referring to people on low incomes who have to do that to survive, I mean the people on higher incomes who could live more frugally but choose not to.

Foliageeverywhere122 · 06/11/2020 13:14

Like a lot of people, my rent and bills are 60% of my income :/

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 06/11/2020 13:19

I do think there are inefficiencies.my 17 year old neighbour had just got a job waiting tables in a local restaurant when lockdown started. Instead she got furloughed. She's an affluent teen with no bills to pay who got furlough money to do nothing all summer. If I'm brutally honest I do think that side of it wasnt the best use of government money.

Heyahun · 06/11/2020 13:25

So what could they have done then @NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Check who lives at home with parents and who doesn't and only give it to those who have rent and bills to pay - but not let any young people have it?

SweetPetrichor · 06/11/2020 13:27

80% is too much in some cases but I don’t think anyone should drop below min wage...maybe it would be better that furlough just pays min wage. So if you are on the bread line nothing changes, but if you earn more you get furlough payments equal to min wage. If one person can live on that wage then surely we should all be willing to when time’s are tough. And I do say that as someone earning more than 2x min wage.

buildingbridge · 06/11/2020 13:28

YABU.

ohnothisagain · 06/11/2020 13:31

To me its more the upper limit.
80% of a minimum wage job is a disaster. £2500 per month while sitting at home is very comfortable. So the maximum should come down, but not the percentage.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 06/11/2020 13:57

I was a bit horrified when I found out that a few mums I know who were on maternity leave and planning to be off until autumn, notified their employers of their intention to return earlier, in may, knowing they would be immediately furloughed. So instead of being on low smp or nothing at all, they were paid furlough for four months for maternity they had planned to be off for anyway. These are affluent professionals who did not need that money.

Furlough was absolutely necessary, but the fact that it was intentionally generous & had to be implemented fast left it wide open to abuse Sad

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 06/11/2020 13:59

Heyahun

I know. There is no easy answer. The only way much of the abuse could have been avoided was people having a moral compass and not claiming what they didn't need.