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Original poster

Friend said DH is abusing furlough

662 replies

amy198820 · 28/12/2020 17:09

DH been on furlough from 2 jobs since March (one full time job and one part time job he does one evening a week). He has been back to work on and off since the summer and is now on the flexi furlough scheme and both jobs have topped his pay to 100%. Since the tier 4 announcement he has been put back on furlough completely.

As tier 4 is looking like it will continue through Jan/Feb, and so unlikely he will be going back anytime soon DH had applied for another job to keep him busy rather than sit at home. DH found out before Christmas he has got the job and he has made this new employer aware that this job will just be a fill in whilst he is on furlough and the employer has accepted this and are happy to take him on. (its a friend of a friend type thing)

Spoke with my friend and earlier and told her about DH's new temporary position explaining that its better than him sitting at home all day /gives him something to do until all this passes etc. My friend took umbrage with this and said that we are abusing the system and that this isnt what the scheme was designed for. I didn't really know what to say and so said sorry she was offended and would speak to her later on.

For background before anyone says anything, I was not being insensitive, my friend has not suffered financially due to COVID as she has been working from home continuously throughout.

I want to call my friend back soon as to not let the bad feeling grow. How would you suggest I approach this? I do not think we are doing anything wrong, just trying to get through this pandemic and doing the best for our family as would anyone else.

OP posts:

2BDIs · 29/12/2020 07:18

I'll hold my hands up and say I haven't RTFT so this may have been said.
Despite it being unsavoury, as he is getting 100% pay at taxpayers expense for 80% of it, your husband isn't doing anything wrong, as long as he has the permission of the furloughing employers to take another job. Has he done this?. Do the employers that are topping his pay up to 100% out of the goodness of their hearts know he has taken a 3rd job?. I also hope this3erd job is though the payroll and he is not rinsing the tax system a 2nd time By taking cash in hand.
Why couldn't he do something good with his 100% pay he is receiving to sit at home and go and volunteer in the community instead, helping people who have not done so well out of this shit show of a year?

ConiferGate · 29/12/2020 07:25

@Littleyell you called people with an opinion on how public money is spent “busy bodies” then called me a entitled and a hypocrite for calling you out on it! I mean, please lol!!!

Throwing insults around really doesnt make you big or clever. Quite the opposite it makes you seem narrow minded and ignorant.

Furlough is paid for by public finances, therefore the public is perfectly entitled to have an opinion.

Getting another job whilst living off public finances may be legal but it’s clearly not the intention of why the scheme was designed. It was designed to let people top up their income to 100% of their former salary. A bit like saying you should still be able to claim JSA when you’ve got a new job in case you don’t like the new one.

Any one of us could be out of a job in six months time, we are in an economic crisis. He’s not exceptional so that argument doesn’t work. People should either choose one or the other, or else companies should be required to keep jobs open but without the obligation to pay when furloughed employees are working elsewhere (like mat leave).

Nnkk · 29/12/2020 07:28

It’s not illegal but it is a bit shitty.

That’s not really what furlough is for.

Someone who has no job NOW could be doing that job rather than your husband raking it in.

ConiferGate · 29/12/2020 07:28

@littleyell there there, perhaps time for you to go back to bed, you seem very angry and you aren’t making much sense today. A little more sleep will help.

Lampzade · 29/12/2020 07:30

@SillyOldMummy

I'm sorry for your DH situation, but what he is doing is fraud. It is a crime, like benefits fraud.

Stupidly yes, the system is paying him to sit at home.

Haven’t you read the thread?. What op’s husband is doing is NOT illegal and therefore is NOT a crime. He is NOT committing benefit fraud Some may find it morally wrong, but it is not legally wrong. People need to do their research before spouting falsehoods on MN

Littleyell · 29/12/2020 07:32

[quote ConiferGate]@littleyell there there, perhaps time for you to go back to bed, you seem very angry and you aren’t making much sense today. A little more sleep will help.[/quote]
Ignorance is bliss

Littleyell · 29/12/2020 07:33

[quote ConiferGate]@Littleyell you called people with an opinion on how public money is spent “busy bodies” then called me a entitled and a hypocrite for calling you out on it! I mean, please lol!!!

Throwing insults around really doesnt make you big or clever. Quite the opposite it makes you seem narrow minded and ignorant.

Furlough is paid for by public finances, therefore the public is perfectly entitled to have an opinion.

Getting another job whilst living off public finances may be legal but it’s clearly not the intention of why the scheme was designed. It was designed to let people top up their income to 100% of their former salary. A bit like saying you should still be able to claim JSA when you’ve got a new job in case you don’t like the new one.

Any one of us could be out of a job in six months time, we are in an economic crisis. He’s not exceptional so that argument doesn’t work. People should either choose one or the other, or else companies should be required to keep jobs open but without the obligation to pay when furloughed employees are working elsewhere (like mat leave).[/quote]

Correction you think people should do that. It’s not against the law...

GCAcademic · 29/12/2020 07:34

You sound like a real charmer, littleyell. If you have to resort to abusing other posters, you haven’t got an argument.

whatwouldyoudo85 · 29/12/2020 07:35

I'm surprised it's allowed but since it is I don't blame you for taking advantage of it.

I hope you weren't complaining to her about how hard done by you are though. Sounds like you're doing very well.

Littleyell · 29/12/2020 07:37

@GCAcademic

You sound like a real charmer, littleyell. If you have to resort to abusing other posters, you haven’t got an argument.

Abusing? Sorry I stuck up for OP. I have got an argument. I think some posters have are hypocrites are they volunteers themselves? Yet they are DEMANDING that OPs husband does that.

OP has had a hard time and I don’t think it’s right.

Nnkk · 29/12/2020 07:40

I’m working. I’ve worked all through. Never been furloughed.

I’ve also volunteered.

The op’s husband is doing something that, in my opinion, whilst it may be allowed in the regulations, is morally wrong.

He’s taking money off someone else who has already lost their job and using it to line his own pockets.

Wherediditgo · 29/12/2020 07:40

People need to do their research before spouting falsehoods on MN

Couldn’t agree more. I find it incredibly cringe-worthy seeing people gleefully declaring absolutely bollocks as fact when it isn’t.

Oblomov20 · 29/12/2020 07:40

I've given more thought to this overnight.

I doubt Rishni /Government is going to make changes to stop this any time soon.

The OP hasn't changed her view, in fact even went further, claiming her Dh could be made redundant soon, but as others have said that argument doesn't sit because we all could!

She isn't going to change her mind. She can't see my/others POW that this is so very wrong morally.

Covid really has bought out the worst of us, hasn't it?

Wherediditgo · 29/12/2020 07:41

OP - not illegal.
Can’t get my knickers in a twist over this to be honest. Some people have won and some have lost during the pandemic. Such is life.

theantsgomarchin · 29/12/2020 07:47

I'm another one in the camp that's surprised it's allowed but also absolutely don't blame you for doing it! Volunteering isn't as easy as people on here seem to be making out and I'd like to see a show of hands for the amount of people on here who volunteer in their spare time....

OPs husband could lay around on his arse for months on end doing nothing because he cannot work his other jobs but he's choosing not to. It may not sit well with many of you but you're also choosing to forget the fact that being essentially unemployed and laying around the house all day actually takes it's toll on a lot of peoples mental health. It's not as simple as just "doing volunteer work" - I am a SAHM and I've looked for volunteer work in the past and it's very very difficult to come by and there are a lot of rules around who can and cannot volunteer.

You all need to get off your high horses and wind your necks in.

kitschplease · 29/12/2020 07:47

He's doing nothing wrong legally, but I'd definitely be rethinking my friendship. As he's been making more money than usual, and some at taxpayers' expense, is he contributing more to food bank or other causes to share his good fortune?
Oh, and in 15 years you'd have to be paying a fucktron of tax to be putting in more than you take out - although that bit did make me laugh, so thank you.

Littleyell · 29/12/2020 07:50

@Oblomov20

I've given more thought to this overnight.

I doubt Rishni /Government is going to make changes to stop this any time soon.

The OP hasn't changed her view, in fact even went further, claiming her Dh could be made redundant soon, but as others have said that argument doesn't sit because we all could!

She isn't going to change her mind. She can't see my/others POW that this is so very wrong morally.

Covid really has bought out the worst of us, hasn't it?

To be FAIR some people who are in a secure industry, people who are on furlough are likely to be more at risk than those who are not furloughed of been out of a job. So maybe that’s why it is allowed.

SpaceRaiders · 29/12/2020 07:53

YOU and others won’t be funding OP when he has NO salary because his job has ended!

I think you’ll find we will and It’s called universal credit. Tax payers are perfectly entitled to scrutinise how public funds are being used and this is one of many examples of a shit system. Hence why some employers have paid it back!

Wherediditgo · 29/12/2020 07:58

Rather than getting worked up about one individual doing something perfectly legal, what I would like to know is - what will happen when companies who have used the furlough scheme declare a profit in the same year and pay dividends to share holders?

ConiferGate · 29/12/2020 08:10

@Littleyell specifically, where did I say it’s against the law? I didn’t. You’re angry, abusive and delusional.

No one is demanding the OP’s husband do anything. And as for the “hypocrites” who aren’t volunteering in your words, most of them are actually working, like me. Not pocketing taxpayer funded benefits that we don’t need.

cautiouscovidity · 29/12/2020 08:12

@nicknamehelp

I don't think this is actually allowed under scheme rules.

Yes it is.

Timeforredwine · 29/12/2020 08:21

It's perfectly legal, I say that as only been on UC since March & cant claim a penny from elsewhere due to an error on a form so have been broke since lockdown no decorating for me like some who have been taking it in BUT I dont begrudge anyone what they are entitled to so op is doing nothing wrong. Maybe other people are petty and jealous.

Timeforredwine · 29/12/2020 08:21

taking it in

Timeforredwine · 29/12/2020 08:22

I meant raking it in!

TerryHearn · 29/12/2020 08:22

A nation of loophole users and tax avoidance benefitters. No wonder there is nothing in the pot to fund the country’s public services. The same clowns that bleat on about builders working cash in hand or big companies not paying their taxes. We have some of the biggest hypocrites in this country right here. Absolutely astonishing to read this thread. I look forward to next week when the OP’s husband has taken on another part time job. It could become a regular column. Perhaps they’ll be able to move house, put the kids in private school and holiday in the Bahamas once he has 10 jobs on the go.

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