£1000 per employee to keep people on after furlough

[AKissAndASmile]

This government seriously concerns me. There is no common sense at all. A company who has decided to get rid of someone to save the £20k a year salary is not going to be tempted by a one-off payment of a grand. And companies that were going to keep furloughed staff on anyway will also get this bonus £1k per employee. If you furloughed 100 staff that's £100k Sounds pretty hare-brained to me. Why don't they use the money for something useful like scrapping the parking fees for NHS staff instead?

£3.6 million not £36million
No, £36m was correct. But there's a £40k cap anyway, apparently.

The furlough bonus scheme: possibly the biggest waste of government money ever?

One of the comments after the article made laugh:

"This is yet another policy whose only purpose is to funnel money to Conservative party voters and donors (being as most business owners are Conservatives). The large corporates, with thousands of people on furlough, are in for a large windfall, all for being civically minded enough to keep employing the staff, without whose labour they could not operate.

The looting of the public purse by this government, be it dodgy PPE contracts, planning department shadiness, or this latest wheeze, has become incredibly blatant. It’s almost as if they know what’s coming, they know the gig is up, and are making out like bandits whilst they can."

Sunak's jobs policies badly timed and poorly targeted, says IFS
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said most of the £9.4bn allocated for the government’s £1,000 job retention bonus scheme – to incentivise employers to take back furloughed staff – would be spent on jobs that were already safe.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/09/rishi-sunak-jobs-policies-badly-timed-poorly-targeted-ifs

Isn't it £36000 if there are 36000 employees @ £1000 per employee?

No, that would mean £1 per employee

Yes @BlueBrian anyone with a shred of common sense can see that. It makes sense it must be a sly bung to their donors, because surely they're not as incompetent as they are making out?! Same as giving dodgy contracts to their donors such as the Dyson ventilator and tracing app debacles. I wonder how many MPs furloughed their family members who 'work for them' too.

@AKissAndASmile of course it is !(slaps forehead in frustration at menopause brain!!) Sorry for being thick 😀

Not had anything here. SE, unable to claim anything as I worked part time alongside setting up my business. Went almost freelance in 2018 but fell foul of the 50/50 rule.
Not entitled to any of the other business support as I don’t have premises. Dh works so no UC.
That money could have gone to the 3million Excluded from gov support but Sunak denies we exist.

On top of all the good points already made surely some companies will get rid of the poor sods who have worked throughout and bring the furloughed ones back to get the bonus?

Gosh, you're right! If it's a toss up between two employees you'd get rid of the one who hadn't been furloughed for the £1k

These are interesting points. However, in that situation employers will have to consider how much it will cost them to make someone redundant. The furloughed employee might’ve been with a company for a few months, whereas an employee who hasn’t been furloughed could’ve been with that company for ten years. The former won’t get any redundancy pay whereas the latter will be paid off.

The company I work for furloughed 1050 people so they're in line for over £1 million bonus.

My team was still working. I was refused furlough for shielding so I've been on unpaid leave since March.

I can't understand why they're getting a £1 million bonus while I can barely afford to buy food.

I know someone who has made loads of employees return to work and has kept them on furlough so they're going to be making all of this money whilst screwing the government and other tax payers over. Makes me rage.
And yes I've reported them a while back... I do hope it's investigated!

And yes I've reported them a while back... I do hope it's investigated!
Good! This is all so frustrating!

I can't understand why they're getting a £1 million bonus while I can barely afford to buy food.

True @BSintolerant

Haha, no worries @Blobby10 🙈

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

The company I work for furloughed 1050 people so they're in line for over £1 million bonus.

My team was still working. I was refused furlough for shielding so I've been on unpaid leave since March.

I can't understand why they're getting a £1 million bonus while I can barely afford to buy food.

Isn’t there a £30,000 limit @YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan?

I can't understand why they're getting a £1 million bonus while I can barely afford to buy food.
Think it's capped at £40,000, it's a backhander to Tory donors so you won't be eligible.

Many businesses having struggled during lockdown will be glad of this support to retain valued employees until everything gets back to normal.
In lower paid jobs especially this may be a clincher between redudancy and retention.
If someone has to be made redundant they could end up claiming benefits, if they rent, housing benefits too. This will be more than £1000 if a new job can't be found.
Fast forward to when normality begins and companies need more staff, recruitment/ training can be expensive putting more strain on businesses that nay be fragile?
People that have then got a new job are in a vulnerable state for getting a mortgage (further slowing down housing market) more risk of redundancy if another outbreak ( again ending up possibly on benefits)
Its a delicate cycle that feeds itself.
Yes all of this costs money, but propping it up even in small ways could stop a domino effect down the line.
More unemployment will mean house prices falling, potential crime, cuts in services, so money would be needed for that anyway.
I would rather a company get support in this way, rather than make someone redundant, and then a retained employee effectively doing the work of 2 people.
As I posted in April its all much less than the government spent bailing out the banks in 2009.

I didn't realise it was capped.

I'm just still miffed that I've lost my wages for following medical advice and shielding. I don't understand why employers were given the choice on furloughing shielders and why nothing was put in place so they got 80% of wages if the employer refused furlough.

I didn't realise it was capped

Someone said it was capped upthread, but I've not seen evidence of that anywhere on the www

Think it's capped at £40,000
Yeah scrap that comment, I got it from further up the thread, but having listened to Rishi Sunak announcement again, it doesn't sound capped.

I think this is a stupid thing to do. But hey ho - what can you do.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

I didn't realise it was capped.

I'm just still miffed that I've lost my wages for following medical advice and shielding. I don't understand why employers were given the choice on furloughing shielders and why nothing was put in place so they got 80% of wages if the employer refused furlough.

Jesus. Really?! I thought they were obliged to furlough anyone who was on the official shielding list!

I'm very sorry & angry that hasn't been your experience 🌷

As the owner of a small business we'll be paying the £1000 to our employees who have worked so hard during this time.

@IncrediblySadToo thank you xx

It isn't compulsory to furlough shielding people - it was up to the employer to decide if they wanted to. Mine said no. I'm claiming benefits now but it's much less than my salary was so we've really struggled financially.

I'm really angry with the Government. It's cruel sending a letter out telling people to stay at home and then not putting anything in place to ensure they get the 80% they are entitled to.

They’ll possibly just make redundancies after they’ve claimed it or shortly after

[quote YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan]@IncrediblySadToo thank you xx

It isn't compulsory to furlough shielding people - it was up to the employer to decide if they wanted to. Mine said no. I'm claiming benefits now but it's much less than my salary was so we've really struggled financially.

I'm really angry with the Government. It's cruel sending a letter out telling people to stay at home and then not putting anything in place to ensure they get the 80% they are entitled to.[/quote]
Ah yes, all part of Boris' expecting them to behave reasonably' bullshit.

I can't see why your employer would say 'no' though, surely I would have cost them nothing/a pittance to furlough you?

I'm angry on behalf of shielders - it's ridiculous.

@IncrediblySadToo

They didn't close so they refused me furlough and claimed that I'm choosing not to work. So really they are punishing me for shielding. They've even sent a box of disposable masks and told me to ignore the letter as it's just advisory and claimed I'd be fine working among the general public with a mask on.

I don't want to work for them anymore. Shielding ends in August and I'm busy applying for other jobs now.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan - pressuring you to go against the government advice may well be discrimination. If they didn't furlough you then you should at least have had SSP: www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19#work-and-employment. Have you talked to ACAS for independent advice? www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus/vulnerable-people-and-high-risk - Acas helpline 0300 123 1100.