Please give me examples of "non essential" jobs that you or friends/relatives are expected to do because those jobs can't be done from home ...

[ChicChicChicChiclana]

A car wash was open on my high street today (London, most hard-hit borough).

I understand that the workers there want to carry on working because they are getting cash in hand and the business is probably not registered in any way (so they can't be furloughed).

They had customers. WHO??? If I can live with long straggly greying hair, I can live with a dirty car.

So, the people who are still working outside of your home - and aren't seen as a key worker - what is your job, what are you having to do?

Security, FM and groundskeepers are at OH’s work. Not essential to the country, but essential to stop the place from deteriorating and allowing it to be ready when the place opens again.

Maybe not so much Performing Arts

Sure. None of us are watching Netflix at the moment. 🙄

People I know who are still working (apart from the obvious, ie those working in essential shops or the products pipeline for those shops, those working in the NHS etc) are as follows:

Live out nanny
Cleaner
Gardener
Pest control
Boiler/gas service tradespeople
Taxi drivers
Security services for closed offices etc

But Worra - that's what furloughing is for.

Nannies-I know a few who are still going to work.
Cleaners.
Gas engineer-has safety checks still need to be carried out.
Staff at student halls.

We had to get remortgage papers notarised today. She sat in her car and we sat in ours outside the office. She called us and went through the papers, where we had to sign and initial etc... took about 40mins!

What if, for example, your only toilet broke and you needed a plumber to fix it? That must be allowed, surely?

It doesn't seem to be surveyors, we can't get one even to a house that has been empty over a year even if no-one goes in there for days before and the estate agents wash and bag up the key.

But Worra - that's what furloughing is for.

You've lost me.

The point is, drinking tea and eating cake in someone's home is not comparable to someone working in someone else's home - adhering to social distancing rules and continuing to earn their living.

If they can do that, there's no need for furlough is there?

that's what furloughing is for

Furlough is (primarily) for when the alternative is to make the worker redundant because the business cannot afford to pay them due to the sharp drop in turnover/income. Obviously it’s more flexible than that but that’s the general idea.

If the demand for the business is still there, if the income is still available, and there’s any possible way for trading to continue, then it will/should be.

"What if, for example, your only toilet broke and you needed a plumber to fix it? That must be allowed, surely?"

Of course. But that's different to having a plumber come and work in your loft extension or kitchen extension. I would have thought.

Chic that is not what furlough is for! Furlough is for businesses that would have otherwise made staff redundant due to lack of work or that have been forced to close such as pubs, cinemas etc. It's not for people that can and do have work available but just decide they don't want to do it. The less people that are on furlough the better, there isn't endless money to fund it.

I am very intimately acquainted with a small business of 1 business owner and his 5 members of staff. They are tradesmen. They work in domestic settings. As soon as the lock down started he furloughed his staff because he knew he wouldn't have enough work to keep everyone busy. And, exactly as predicted, no one has contacted him to do any work whatsoever in their houses during lock down unless it has been an emergency. Some larger building projects he was half way through working on have also been put on hold. Even if his staff had been willing to work on jobs where it was possible to remain socially distant in an average sized house, those would have been dependent on members of the public being willing to have people other than their immediate household in their homes. Which, funnily enough, most haven't been!

Our groundstaff have been working on grass cutting and hedge trimming

(As in on the communal areas on the estate, not one directly employed by my family. I don't live in a mansion...)

DH works in manufacturing, mainly defence contracts and DS works for a company who supply materials to companies such as where DH works. They are both still in work. We have employed people to do work outside our house, gardener, cleaning paving, window cleaner.

That's fine, but as people have demonstrated on this thread, there clearly are some people who are still happy to have jobs done in their homes.

Of course boiler servicing is essential, it’s a safety issue and not having it serviced will invalidate your warranty or boiler cover Insurance.

Vets, vet nurses and vet receptionists. Not listed as essential. Can’t work from home. No school places, no testing yet. Lots of telephone consultations but some animals still need to be seen.

Are the car plants and other big factories still going?

Rolls Royce and Bombardier are operating with social distancing in place.

Furloughing was to prevent people being made redundant. The government were clear that if you can’t work from home you can go to work, whether you are an essential worker or not.

Oh and a new housing development close to us is still being built. Non essential, but they can’t build houses from home.

The grounds contractors that look after parks are still working. The conditions are difficult for them because they only send one person in each vehicle.
Retailers continue, just not in shops. Boots, Argos, Amazon- all have staff working in the usual way. Many have increased their workforce. I'm sure they have measures in place to reduce exposure where they can.

The starting point is that work continues, not that work stops.

So, work continues unless
you are in a category that's been closed by the government- pubs, clubs.
No one wants your services anymore
So many of your staff are quarantined or isolating that you can't continue.

Other than that, businesses should still run but with measures to reduce infection.

Our pump broke so we’ve had to have our plumber in. It’s working now but I didn’t feel he understood social distancing. However it was necessary I think.

I work for a filter manufacturer. Us office staff are all working from home but the warehouse staff still have to go in. You can still go to work if you cannot work from home, the government didn't close all businesses, they closed leisure, hospitality and retail premises to stop people coming into contact with each other in large numbers. Plenty of people are still working in factories and warehouses, following social distancing practices.

A friend works for rentokil. Not ‘essential’ but can’t be done from home.
Another in the Next warehouse.

DH is a plasterer. Hes working on an empty house and the mats are delivered on site when hes not there. He originally wasnt going to do it (for my sake, Im on 50mg steroids on a Crohns flare) but
A. He obviously cant work from home and is SE
B. He spoke to a couple of policeman friends who advised that he could as long as he observed social distancing etc, its also a local job
C. The house is for an older couple who are desperate to move in - they are living with their children/grandkids and feel very much in the way. it was only supposed to be for 6 weeks or so