Temp Contract work = furloughed?

[FredAstaireAteMyHamSandwich]

DH works through an agency doing mid to long contracts in accountancy 6 months - 2 years. He is hired through the agency and paid weeklt by them, and the hiring company is billed. The agency do PAYE etc His current contract has now come to an end. The agency are quite unclear on whether he can be furloughed, they say they are looking into it. Has anyone else been in this position? Has your agency been considered your employer for furlough purposes?

Does he have an overarching permanent contract with the agency then? Or is his only contractual work with the companies that the agencies find, and they just sort pay etc? Does he have a base salary with them?

My agency are currently looking into this for me. They seem quite positive furlough will happen once system up and running. Importantly the cut off date for furlough has been changed from 28/2 to 19/3. Good news for me as started my last contract on 5/3!

He doesn't have an overarching contract. The contractual work is with companies that agencies find. he has an hourly rate he works for with the agency, he gets holiday pay with the agency pro rata.

I could well be wrong, but if his contract has ended anyway, I don't think he will qualify for furlough. I don't know that for certain though. No-one seems to know anything about furlough for certain. I am an agency worker, meant to be working for a company for 12 weeks and then becoming permanent with that company and ceasing to work for the agency. 5 weeks in, my company temporarily closed. They dontmpay me direct yet so they can't pay my furlough, and my agency don't seem to have any idea about their responsibility to do so. A check of government website does say temporary workers are entitled to furlough, but you have to be actually laid off your work, whereas your dh's work has come to an end.

It was an ongoing weekly contract he had, but the company have now decided they cant afford him.