80% WAGES - ANYONE GOT THIS CONFIRMED?

[Undecided91]

Hi all I know it is still early days but most than likely there wont be any work for me left to do but my employer is keeping quiet and while I am still working from home I may not have anything left to do in the coming weeks (due to the nature of the business) Hence anyone had their 80% wage confirmed by employer yet? I wonder if anyone would choose to fire people rather than giving them the 80% grant from the govt? Also I wonder if the same will apply to people on probationary periods? My DH is sadly on 9months probation (hes been there 5 months now) but still very uncertain times as we have a massive rent to pay and our landlord just bluntly said NO to any rent delays or he will kick us out as it is his only rental property and it is really stressing me out :( :(

Not confirmed for me. I have been told to self isolate for 12 weeks and my bosses have just said i'm not even going to get SSP. So then I went on the entitled to website and it said i'm not entitled to universal credit either :(

I work for the retail arm of a charity and was today told by manager that due to my employer being a charity we will not be entitled to the 80% wage. I have been frantically googling and all the articles say charity’s and non profits are entitled so not really sure what to do.

@NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 OMG ; you should definitely be entitled to UC then? If you put that you are employed but earning zero £, it should give you some support? this is so bad, my anxiety is through the roof now with everything :(

@Crimeismymiddlename thats it then. This is what I feared. Some employers might just choose not to apply for the grant.... I wonder if we can contact GOVT ourselves? Because surely if they are givng 80% that it shouldnt rely on your employer passing it over to you - govt should pay it direct I suppose

My understanding is your employer has to apply for it on your behalf from HMRC. The funding isn't available until April...clear as mud I know! It's not like it's important or anything.

I had this confirmed about an hour ago. I work for a small independent estate agent chain. I'm not sure how easy the information is to find just yet about how the companies arrange this, don't take the silence as negative, they will have a lot of info to absorb and mull over right now.

The best way to contact the government is to contact your MP. They can contact Ministers on your behalf and/or ask questions in Parliament about it.
In fact I think you definitely should contact your MP so they are aware of the situation.

I am hoping it is all a big mistake-it is a massive, massive employer-the government would look very bad if they let us all go, however I can’t work from home so I am thinking the head office staff will be largely unaffected. There is no information at all. I am lucky, I am on full pay for two weeks so will get through next month. We shall have to see after that.

@Nonnymum that’s a great idea-will sort out today!

I wonder if we can contact GOVT ourselves? Because surely if they are givng 80% that it shouldnt rely on your employer passing it over to you - govt should pay it direct I suppose

I think it's the governments incentive to have businesses not lay staff off rather than a personal benefit.

My dh boss confirmed they are going to get the grant but that it's not available till end of april. Luckily they have already done payroll for this month. Sadly it's up to the employer to apply for the grant and I can imagine many employers just wont bother.

Businesses will take a variety of measures. The 80% (up to £2,500 per month) will apply if they choose to "furlough" you. This will mean that you can't work at all for them during that period. They may elect to top up your wages to 100%, but most will not. The trouble is that the HMRC system is not yet up and running. It may not be until the end of April.

Another option is to put you on a zero hours contract/short-time working/lay you off. Of course, this can only be done without your consent if there is a provision in your contract of employment which permits it. If there is no such provision, the business may say that it needs you to consent if you are to have any job to go back to at all.

Bear in mind that if the contract does permit short-time working/temporary lay-offs, you are entitled to redundancy if it continues for a consecutive period of 4 weeks or for six weeks in any 13-week period.

Unfortunately, some businesses will not survive this. If a business enters into administration or similar, your redundancy claim will rank quite far down the list (after secured debts such as loans, by way of example).

Your DH will unfortunately be a prime target for dismissal owing to his length of service.

It might be worth asking if they will furlough you.

inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/work/furloughed-workers-what-meaning-furlough-coronavirus-employees-measures-hmrc-portal-2506472

It isn't easy for all businesses to furlough workers. The furlough system won't be up and running until the end of April and so that means the employer has to pay them out of its own pocket initially (or get an emergency loan). Not all businesses can do that unfortunately.

It is the employer who has to apply for the 80% wages subsidy, they cannot do it yet as HMRC are working on getting it online, it will not be ready until April.There is really no reason why the employer would not do this.

OP, I can’t help with the 80% question, but I can reassure you that your landlord will not be able to be throw you out - at least not lawfully. The courts are not processing new applications for possession for the time being. Of course, if you get too far behind with your rent, you may be in difficulty when everything returns to normal, but the government might bring in measures to help at that stage.

nowlook at your post

No one really knows anything right now.

I'd keep sending tweets en mass to the papers, journalists, MP's and news castors.

But I will say this- HMRC are extremely busy right now so maybe give your employer time to get back to you

My employer (Next) confirmed yesterday that they we will be paid in full until 11th April, and then "a minimum of 80% of our wages" after that. They haven't specified any more than that at this stage, and I am so so grateful that they have confirmed this much. I was slating our CEO on here yesterday for keeping us working in the stores right up the end of yesterday without confirming their plans for retaining / laying off staff, but I feel that he and the board of directors have come very good in the end.

Obviously we don't know how long we will be paid for - this could go on for months and months - but at the moment I am grateful to know that we will be paid in the short-term and that the company obviously plans to retain as many staff as possible. Surely most companies will want to do this? When we are out the other side of lockdown(s) - and I understand that this could go on, on a rolling on/off basis for a year or more - business are going to need their staff to get them up and running again as soon as possible.

There is really no reason why the employer would not do this

@allmycats

There is. If the business had a reduced need for member of staff, but did have some need, the furlough provisions are of no use to that business. They may then choose either to enforce or request (depending on their contract) significantly shorter-time working.

Bit of a minefield.

@adiposegirl2

Sorry, what's wrong with my post?

I DO think a significant number of employers will just sack people rather than go through the 80% claim procedure. Its just one more thing they feel is a burden on them, doesn't benefit them in cash terms - they can sack someone, no cost, or they can claim the 80% - lots of paperwork.

@Undecided91

Sorry, I missed the bit about your landlord, but @FallenMadonnawiththeBadBoobies has covered that point.

I think alot of companies will be wary about confirming this until the full spec is out. If they confirm and then you dont meet the criteria for it then they are committing to pay it. Give it a few more days. Hmrc have not got even got the system in place yet to apply. It's still early days tbf

If they confirm and then you dont meet the criteria for it then they are committing to pay

What is the criteria?

I think we all need to take a deep breath and give employers at least a week to figure this out. It's a new bill, they need to adapt.