Do you have questions about employment rights during the coronavirus pandemic? Ask GMB Union’s experts - £100 voucher to be won

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Amid the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, our daily lives have changed dramatically and many have had their work situations change in ways they never could have anticipated. We've seen people coming to Mumsnet for employment advice and support in the past weeks, so we know many of you are in difficult situations and need help. That's why we've partnered with GMB Union to set up a 3-part Work Clinic to bring the experts to you and help answer your questions. To start off, GMB has provided a panel of experts to help with understanding your employment rights and keeping safe at work.

Here’s what GMB Union has to say: “GMB is the trade union for everyone. Our job is simple: protecting, defending and extending your rights in the workplace and beyond.

That means being there to fight your corner if you have a problem, big or small – and working to get you a better deal. Whatever the issue, we have thousands of highly trained staff and expert activists to support you. From securing proper sick pay in workplaces and ensuring wage support, to leading demands for proper protective equipment at the Government top table – we make sure our members’ voices are heard locally and nationally.

That’s the power of getting a union on your side. With GMB that’s what you get: a family that stands up for you.”

Want to know who will be answering your questions? Find some information on GMB’s experts below:

Susan Harris, Director of Legal Services at GMB

“Sue is a solicitor and has been Director of Legal Services at GMB since March 2018, particularly dealing with collective issues. Previously employed at Thompsons Solicitors for 28 years as an employment law specialist, Sue acted for unions and their members on an individual and collective basis. She was appointed as a salaried partner with Thompsons when pregnant with 1st child (1993) and full equity partner when pregnant with 3rd child (1996). She is now a mother of 3 daughters, 3 cats, 4 tortoises and numerous fish. She has an abhorrence of exercise; was a regular theatre goer in pre-lock down world, so is now reading more!”

Rehana Azam, National Secretary, Public Services at GMB

“With over two decades’ experience of fighting for workers' rights with GMB, Rehana is one of the trade union movement’s most senior BAME women. She leads national negotiations with employers to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions and is a fierce campaigner. Rehana is a proud mum of one boy safely brought into the world thanks to the NHS, as well as a gorgeous King Charles Cavalier named Archie. She's a couch to 5K type of runner, but has marched hundreds of miles for the NHS and will dust off her marching boots again after lockdown.”

Lynsey Mann, National Health & Safety Officer at GMB

“Lynsey is GMB's National Health, Safety and Environment Officer. She has a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Masters degree in Environmental Health. Before joining GMB she worked at London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD) for 9 years, in various Environmental Protection and Public Health roles. During her time at LBBD, Lynsey was also a GMB equality activist and a founding member of GMB Sisters women’s self-organised group. In her spare time, Lynsey is a long distance runner who runs half marathons most weekends and is training for her second London Marathon. She also enjoys baking cakes and knitting clothes for her family and friends' children.”

Perhaps you have questions about your rights when returning to work after lockdown? What legal protections are in place to keep you safe? Maybe you’d like to further understand how redundancies work at this time? Or perhaps now that you need to juggle work, childcare and homeschooling you'd like to discuss flexible working, but don't know where to start?

Whatever your questions surrounding legal employment rights, please ask them below by midday on the 18th May. GMB Union’s experts will be back between 3 and 4pm on Thursday 21st May to answer your questions.

All who post a question (regardless of whether it is answered or not) will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

I have heard that my employer is considering making redundancies. Can I be asked to come into work for the redundancy consultation whilst I'm on furlough?

What rights do parents who do not have access to child care right now have in not returning to work if their employer requests it? What happens if they make the decision not to send their child to school or nursery because of fears over safety or wellbeing? Can they lose their job?

I'm furloughed. Prior to that my employer asked all employees to take a 20% pay cut which I agreed to. Lockdown was announced days later and I volunteered to be furloughed because my partner had Covid-19 symptoms and I had recently had heart surgery.
I am one of 4 people at my place of work with the same job role/job title. The other 3 are still working.
I have contacted my employer with a view to returning to work and he has told me that they are not busy enough and do not need me.
I am now worried that I will be made redundant.
What are my rights?
Is the fact that I was furloughed enough criteria for me to be made redundant over my other 3 colleagues?

I self isolated for two weeks and sent in the form to my work olace they have not paid me . Im currently on unpaid leave till this corono irus is over as i work in a care home but look after a family member who is very high risk,

I have been asked to go back to work Monday 18th May, and work in a hot desking, with close proximity to the next work colleague, what are my rights if i refuse if I see that the environment is not 'covid secure' - when I last worked there we were not given any sanitisers, or cleaning wipes for phones.

Are employers duty bound to provide us with face masks when working ? I have a customer facing roll and expect to be called back to work when the hardware shop I work in will reopen. -what are my rights if they don't ?

I have never joined a union before, but with the current situation I am now wondering whether it would be a good idea. Can you advise what sort of support you can give those of us with employers who are not doing enough to keep us safe? Many thanks.

At what point when working from Home due to Covid situation should an employer be expected to provide appropriate Headsets for employees expected to spend significant time on phone calls whilst also typing? I mean is there a minimum amount of time being expected to work in this way without the appropriate equipment or should it be provided if expected to do this type of work at all?

I am due to go back to work next week, after being furloughed since April, however my employer has indicated that our hours will almost certainly be reduced, can they do this with so little notice ? What are my rights if my hours go from 37 to 20 per week - with the pro-rata reduction in salary - if it is - how many payslips would I need to claim WFTC - my salary is currently too high to claim. Thanks for running this chat.

The company I work for is looking into redundancy for multiple staff but nothing confirmed yet. At the end of July I will have been there for 2 years. Am I eligible for any redundancy pay if I am made redundant before the 2 year mark?

I've thought about joining a Union in the past but they are not recognised in my workplace - and so it's not like they could collectively bargain for me or such like. I don't earn much money so I'd really need to justify the monthly subs. What could a union like the GMB do for me if I joined?

I can work from home, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable. I am working from my kitchen table, using a notebook (I usually have 2 screens at work and not so at home) work takes longer as I have to switch programmes what are my rights to request the correct IT equipment, including chair and additional screen. I have been contracted by my boss asking why my processing is taking longer than usual (indicating I am time wasting at home) it's leaving me stressed and feeling vulnerable to potential disciplinary action (should redundancies be required I may be first in the line) - any advice most welcome.

I'm having to work from home due to the situation. At the moment I'm being asked to use my own laptop, mobile & I don't have a sufficient office set up (suitable desk & chair etc).
Have I got a right to ask my employer to provide such things?

I am pregnant and currently furloughed as my workplace is closed. When it reopens and I'm asked to go back the only way for me to get to work is via public transport which I don't feel safe getting while pregnant and I can't do my job from home. Am I allowed to tell my employer I don't want to commute in to work and will this affect my maternity leave if I take unpaid leave (if they allow it)?

I have been asked to return to work next week but have a child in year 4 and obviously no access to childcare. I have been furloughed but still working. My job can be done from home and I have been doing all I can and have paid to take work related courses whilst not in the office, what are my rights?

I am using so much equipment to carry out my work in a wholly inadequate work office. Can I insist that my employer supply paper, ink, pay a proportion of the electricity bill and so on? Could I request not to do work ton my old computer system that cannot guarantee the cyber-security standards that they espouse without penality?

Can my employer put me on a part time contract after my furlough period ends ? This is what I expect will happen from conversations with my manager, I won't be able to manage financially.

I am self-employed with a quite 'vague' contract which suggests my working hours are between 10 - 20 per week but for a set amount of money (I am not very well paid). Well I am now sticking to no more than 15 a week (as I put in a pitch for more money for more hours which was due for review just as COVID-19 struck so was put on pause for six months until September). TBQH I feel quite aggrieved and taken advantage of. So I am working away but just not doing more than I can fit into my given hours. At the moment it's okay because there is less to do than usual (but still enough).

I guess what I want to know is whether such a nebulous contract - in terms of range of hours - is actually binding in any way in terms of how many hours I actually work (and note it's not been rewritten and signed anew annually)? There is a massive difference between working 40 to 50 hours a month and working 80-100 hours a month. And some months really one could be working twenty hours a week flat-out (and for months on end).

My boss has added more and more to my workload (and there was a lot of catching up to do when I started presumably because the previous person hadn't had time to do what was expected of her in the time paid for)

I am not usually bolshy but the straw that broke the camel's back was at my last review when my boss intimated that I hadn't been doing one stream of work satisfactorily to her mind - even though it was a new one (i.e. not in my original contract which hasn't been updated since I started). It was also one that I had flagged up six months ago that I didn't have time to fit into my hours (which was true!) and was the reason for being invited to pitch for more hours.

I was incandescent with annoyance but realised that March wasn't the time to start being super bolshy, otherwise, I could end up losing my job.

I don't have an HR background in any way but I feel that the whole premise of the role is really that of an employee in that I am expected to do events when they want me (even in evenings and at weekends) even if they don't fall on days I've self-determined to work. And do anything else that's required of me (which has now extended to tech stuff which is really not my field).

Help!

Oh and perhaps most crucially I am really the pivot of the whole operation in terms of being the only person who has an overview of how everything works! Not blowing my own trumpet that's just how it is!

And is it true that even as a contractor one does have certain rights after two years? If so what are they, please?

Thanks in advance.

Until February of this year I had an exemplary sickness record (have not had an episode of sickness for 10 years) In Feb I had tonsillitis and was off for 4 days, then I caught Covid and was off for 2 weeks. On my return to work I wasn't functioning very well (complete exhaustion, breathlessness and actually still coughing) so I was off for a further week.
Because of this I have been put on a disciplinary stage 1 sickness warning.
Can they do this? it seems so unfair.
I'm a front line NHS worker.

That's outrageous @Serin - some way to treat key NHS workers during the crisis. I would get in touch with your union asap.

Can an employer legally take an employee off furlough who can't return to work due to lack of childcare therefore leaving them on unpaid leave?

If someone is made redundant two weeks before they have two years service, and given a months notice, does the employer have to pay one weeks redundancy on top of the months notice? Does the months notice count towards the period of service?

If someone works part time hours alongside full time staff and the whole team is put back to work only part time will the part time member of staff be asked to do their usual hours? This means the full time staff would be taking home full pay for less hours so be effectively paid much more.

My workplace is currently fully closed due to the crisis. When we open we are expected to absolutely max out our working hours. So instead of say 9-5 Mon-Fri, we are expected to open 7-7 Mon-Sun and work as many hours as possible to catch up. This is expected and asked of the whole team. Can they penalise anyone who can't undertake this? Due to childcare, poor health etc.