Furlough - Any HR people know if this is correct?

[Bramblebear92]

Hi all,

I started a temp job through a well-known agency February 18 and finished March 20th (due to office shut down from corona).

I worked 37.5 hours a week and the gross income was 375 a week (323 take home.) My agency are only paying me £708 a month, although this in itself has varied £775 first month, £574 this month. They told me because I started mid-February, they use the two weeks I worked in February and the 4 weeks in March to work out my average.

So Feb:

67 hours @ £10 = £670

112.50 hours in March = £1125

This equals £1795
Across 2 months worked = average pay of £897.50 per month. 80% of this is £718.

I understand this in theory, but it results in me earning closer to 50% of my wage than 80. It sounds like because I started mid-February I'm losing out on nearly £500 in wages In theory if I'd started beginning of March and finished end of March I'd be getting more because it would be done on my monthly amount rather than the six weeks.

I've spoken to Citizens Advice who agreed that they didn't think it was correct to do it this way and my employer is treating it as though I earned an irregular wage even though I didn't. I forwarded something confirming this from CA to my employer, but my employer came back insisting it was correct.

I may just be misunderstanding how it's calculated, but I'm a bit dubious because my employer hasn't provided me with furlough pay slips, has mentioned a range of different figures and also paid inconsistent amounts since me starting furlough. I've been going around the houses with this for over a month now and still haven't been able to get an answer.

I'd be grateful for any help!

No it’s not correct. They should be working out based on how many days that pay was for, where you haven’t worked a full month.

See this link how to work it out
includes what if someone hasn’t worked a full pay period

I’m attaching a photo of the relevant bit.

Then [[https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-examples-to-help-you-work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages/examples-of-how-to-work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-national-insurance-contributions-and-pension-contributions#example3
this link]] which has examples. 1.3 is the one I think is relevant.

I think it probably is correct but it depends on your contractual terms. Presumably you are on a zero-hours style contract with the agency where there is no guarantee of a monthly income (ie your pay will vary depending on the work available). You are not entitled to a regular wage from the agency, even if your weekly earnings have so far been regular. And I take it that you have been working for the agency only since February 2020. If so, they are right on my understanding to base it on your average monthly pay for 2019/2029 tax year.

www.accountancydaily.co/five-things-you-need-know-furlough-and-zero-hours-workers

Were the CAB able to point to anything concrete to suggest the opposite? I used to work at the CAB when I was much younger and there was little that we could do where are our computer systems did not cover a particular point, so I would possibly take what they have told you with a pinch of salt.

Sorry it's a bit shit