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Original poster

TUC saying parents should be furloughed if schools are off

208 replies

BubblyBarbara · 04/01/2021 02:09

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55522104

Maybe this is more AIBU territory but I feel that while this advice is good intentioned, it's actually very dangerous for parents! While it will work for many people, there are others whose employers will put furloughed employees at the front of the queue for potential future redundancies or might even find they continue to operate fine without the employee. Parents who don't need to take furlough and are OK working from home with children present might also feel pressure to be furloughed they wouldn't otherwise. Is TUC being reasonable with this "advice" to employers?

OP posts:
Ygritte84 · 04/01/2021 08:01

I am shocked at the tone of some of these posts. Entitled parents? Unreliable parents? Apologies for not foreseeing a global pandemic on the horizon, and thinking things would get better in the New Year! As a society, we are playing a dangerous game if we start labelling employees with caring responsibilities "unreliable".

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:02

@StatisticalSense

Any business furloughing staff who there is work for should do so in the full knowledge that the customers they are letting down will go elsewhere and be unlikely to return. Anyone being placed on furlough in a business that hasn't been forced to shut (or shut the particular role they are employed in in the case of large businesses operating in multiple sectors or areas) should expect to be made redundant rather than return.
Amen.

Furlough is not for childcare! And never has been.

GoldenOmber · 04/01/2021 08:02

They’re not saying all parents should be furloughed whether they need/want it or not. They’re saying employers should be willing to offer furlough, and be aware that childcare is a legitimate reason for furlough as the scheme is currently set up.

finkking · 04/01/2021 08:02

Not sure what you see as bitter in my posts?

Do you normally think everything is about you? There are other posters on this thread.

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:03

@finkking

Can we also remember that furlough was put in place to keep people at home because you know pandemic.
NO IT WASNT!
finkking · 04/01/2021 08:04

Furlough is not for childcare! And never has been.

Except you could get furloughed due to childcare....

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:05

Furlough is there to support businesses who, because of covid, have less work for their employees. Instead of making them redundant due to their jobs not being viable, they can be furloughed. It isn't there because people don't want to go to work.

GoldenOmber · 04/01/2021 08:06

Furlough is not for childcare! And never has been.

Yes, yes it is.

From the gov.uk page on the scheme:

You employee is eligible for the grant and can be furloughed, if they are:

- unable to work because they are clinically extremely vulnerable, or at the highest risk of severe illness from coronavirus and following public health guidance
- unable to work because they have caring responsibilities resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19), including employees that need to look after children

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:07

Except you could get furloughed due to childcare....
No, you can ask to be considered for furlough for childcare reasons. If you have work to do that can't be paused, then you wouldn't get furlough, you'd wfh.

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:07

It's up to the employer, basically.

OldAndWornOut · 04/01/2021 08:08

And if your job role doesn't align with that?

Kazzyhoward · 04/01/2021 08:08

@MessAllOver

We need to choose how to pay for families, though. Either we pay for families through furlough or we pay for them through benefits. While benefits may seem like the cheaper option, it is more long-term - it is going to be much harder to get a parent who has lost their home and is on benefits back into work than one who has been furloughed so has a stable home and a job to go back to. It also has more adverse social consequences (which carry their own cost) for the children.

I presume no one is suggesting leaving parents and children starving in the streets?

No one seems to care about the 3 million self employed excluded from support for the last 10 months.
finkking · 04/01/2021 08:08
  • Can we also remember that furlough was put in place to keep people at home because you know pandemic.  NO IT WASNT!

So you really think that the furlough scheme when millions were using it wasn't in some way to maintain compliance & prevent potential civil unrest?

ramblingsonthego · 04/01/2021 08:09

In our "at risk" consultation that is currently ongoing 5 out of the 6 people have young school aged children (all 11 and under). This is at a company that is predominately under 30 year olds with no children. So yep parents are at the forefront of being made redundant. I am one of them. It sucks, we cant prove that it is that way, its also weird as 4 of the 6 are women who had children later in life (late thirties, early forties) so we are also older females being made redundant. Work have denied it is due to these reasons (well they would), but it is very clear that they do not want older employees anymore. The consultation has been a farce, we are not at risk, the boss has made the decision but just wanted to look like they care and allow us "a voice" and when we have given alternatives to save them even more money we have been fed back bollocks that they will look into it.

I am now job hunting and praying I get another one to pay my mortgage and bills. If childcare closes that is going to be really hard to job hunt and do interviews with my pre schooler around.

finkking · 04/01/2021 08:09

It's up to the employer, basically.

So yes you can

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:12

@OldAndWornOut

And if your job role doesn't align with that?
Doesn't align with wfh? Then either no furlough or furlough with others doing your job, which sometimes has the unintended consequence of making your job look less attractive to employers, depending on your employer. Obviously a good employer wants to keep employees safe and happy but they are businesses at the end of the day
ramblingsonthego · 04/01/2021 08:13

After reading the whole thread some real bollocks written on here.

Childcare was a reason to be furloughed. It has been in the guidance since the beginning.

It was not a way to get us to stay at home, it is a job retention scheme. It was to stop hundreds of thousands of people being made redundant all at once. This will still happen when the furlough scheme ends, but the government have at least tried to retain jobs.

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:13

@finkking

It's up to the employer, basically.

So yes you can

You can, but it's not a rule that you have to abide by as an employer. The unions are proposing a blanket rule that all working parents get furlough.
SatishTheCat · 04/01/2021 08:15

Wow what a nasty thread. Commiserations to anyone facing redundancy or childcare difficulties. When will we as a society come to recognize the unpaid work that carers of children and adult dependents do?

Dugee · 04/01/2021 08:16

@finkking

Do you normally think everything is about you? There are other posters on this thread.

I thought because you had @dugee at the beginning of the post, it was directed at me. That is usually how MN works.

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:16

Childcare was a reason to be furloughed. It has been in the guidance since the beginning

It was a reason to ASK to be furloughed! My friend asked to be furloughed to look after her 14 year old ds - didn't get it (quite rightly imo, he's a perfectly NT 14 year old and could look after himself - she's only part time)

MrsMiaWallis · 04/01/2021 08:17

When will we as a society come to recognize the unpaid work that carers of children and adult dependents do

That's a different issue to being furloughed.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 04/01/2021 08:18

Furlough WAS designed to keep people at home. Many businesses have been ordered to shut to save lives.

finkking · 04/01/2021 08:18

You can, but it's not a rule that you have to abide by as an employer.

who said it was a rule though? people were just responding to the below point

Furlough is not for childcare! And never has been.

GoldenOmber · 04/01/2021 08:18

The unions are proposing a blanket rule that all working parents get furlough.

No they’re not. They are, and I quote from the TUC’s own press release, ‘calling on employers to offer furlough to all parents affected by school closures.’

(not sure how they imagine that works for the sectors that aren’t eligible but never mind...)