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

@shinyhappypeeps

My question is about seemingly unfair expectations of those who have not been furloughed versus those who have. I work in the education sector where the majority of the non-teaching staff("support staff") have been furloughed on full pay (topped up by school).Me and my department are also support staff but were not furloughed and are all working from home full time. When the school holidays start all of us in our department either do not work ("term-time" contracts) or our contracts change to partial working. however we have been informed "off the record" that the expectation will be that we will need to work more than our contracted hours during the holidays. Our annual leave year ends on 31 August and no mention has been made of carrying over leave - even without being forced to work extra hours in the summer holidays we already have on average 11 days to carry over (they have never authorised paid overtime for us - we take time off in lieu). Can our employers force us to work more than our contracted hours, can they refuse our annual leave request and can they restrict how much leave we can carry over? This seems doubly harsh as I understand the furloughed staff are accruing leave during their furlough as well?

Very simply the answers here, @shinyhappypeeps, are 'no'- they can’t make you work more than your hours and 'no' - the government changed the law in March to enable people who have been unable to take their holiday entitlement to carry over up to 4 weeks holiday entitlement into future holiday years. And yes - all employees who are furloughed accrue their holiday leave- but an employer can ask people to take holiday during furlough. Sue

@AlanRickman

I work in a special school, and have been working from home so far. From 1st June we are due to return. My boss has put in many measures to make it safe, including ppe and our own workspaces. I work in the office and am able to work from home, I'm also in the higher risk group, however I asked if I can continue to work from home, but my boss said that he has to be fair to everybody, and can't let one person work from home if my colleagues are coming in (they work with the students, so unable to work from home). Can my boss make me come in, as he said he can as he's made the precautions to make it safe at work. Thanks

The Government advice is, if you can work from home, you should continue to do so. This isn’t about fairness, it is about public safety. If you are in a higher risk group, they must carry out a personal risk assessment before they bring you back into work and will have to identify if further control measures re needed to keep you safe. If you are not already in a union, join GMB now and we can provide the support you need. Lynsey

@JenIsMcC250585

I was furloughed for 3 weeks by my employer as I was advised that there was insufficient work to keep both members of my team working. I did not expect to be furloughed as I am the most experienced member of my team and when I challenged their decision was advised that I was being furloughed as my new team member cannot be furloughed due to start date. They called me on monday after the 3 week period and advised that they needed me back. I asked if they could extend my furlough or make reasonable adjustments as I am trying to working from home with a 1 year old, 4 year old, my husband working from home and my dog just had surgery and have to date really struggled. I was told by HR and my line manager that my only options were unpaid parental leave or annual leave. I have used two weeks annual leave to come up with some sort of plan and get my anxiety under control. I will be the only person working on my contract on my return, as they are moving my colleague onto another contract (and they cannot furlough her) and the workload is increasing daily. This is a source of great anxiety, to the point that I was really upset discussing this with my line manager on the call and subsequently requested my gp call me as I felt unneccesarily stressed by my situation (I have not pursued sick leave as I am trying to manage this myself). My question ultimately is should my employer furlough me on the basis of struggling to balance work and childcare in light of Covid19? They are insistent that this is not an option.

The difficulty is that there is no "right" to be furloughed, but the government guidance does say that an employer can furlough an employee who has childcare difficulties – I’ve touched on this on a few of the other answers. So again, this is crying out for a sensible discussion with your employer by a union rep - having that person articulate what you want to an employer really can help sort out a situation - I know I often find it hard to shout out for things for myself, but I am formidable when I am representing my members - join GMB! There's information here: www.gmb.org.uk/why-join-mn Sue

Hi,
I work in a school that re-opens for year 6 on 1st June, they have been open for keyworker children.

I have received a shielding letter that I sent to SLT.

How does it work with pay when the government tell me I should stay inside until 30th June?

Until now I have been doing some work at home. A few teachers have been on a rota but that is due to change next week.

I am only a teaching assistant and not in a union.

Any advice please. Many thanks.

Thanks everyone for your questions - I hope I've been of help . If I didn't manage to answer yours, you might be able to find further advice here: gmb.org.uk/coronavirus I think one of the key things that came out across most of my answers was how invaluable being a member of a trade union is for a lot of these issues. As well as having access to advice like this whenever you need it - GMB members get free legal advice included with membership - you can raise these questions with employers with the confidence of having a rep on your side and 600,000+ other members behind you. I'd urge you to have a look at how GMB can protect you at work here: www.gmb.org.uk/why-join-mn

thanks for the time and effort you have put into answering all of our questions, the answers should help ease our worries or point us in the right direction.

Many thanks Sue for answers to my questions.

I have been advised to sheild. How long is my job safe if I cannot work from home?

@Anewuser

Hi, I work in a school that re-opens for year 6 on 1st June, they have been open for keyworker children.

I have received a shielding letter that I sent to SLT.

How does it work with pay when the government tell me I should stay inside until 30th June?

Until now I have been doing some work at home. A few teachers have been on a rota but that is due to change next week.

I am only a teaching assistant and not in a union.

Any advice please. Many thanks.

This will depend on whether you work on NJC terms. You will need to look at your terms and conditions of employment to see whether that is the case. If you do, then the agreement reached by us here at GMB for NJC employees (indeed even if not a member you can see what we’ve been negotiating here www.gmb.org.uk/njc-circulars) is that anyone who has been told by the government to shield, should be on full pay. If you are employed by an Academy then you may not benefit from this agreement and then I am afraid you would only be entitled to receive any employer sick pay benefit (which may well be time limited) or Statutory Sick Pay.

As a shielding employee you could ask your employer (assuming you are not on NJC T&Cs) to furlough you during your period of shielding - that way you would at a minimum receive 80% of your pay up to £2,500. But unfortunately, you cannot force your employer to furlough you.

If your shielding letter has expired and the government do not announce and extension, then your employer should carry out a personal risk assessment for you and implement control measures to ensure your safety before you return. These control measures could be - continue working from home, no contact of less than 2 metres, working in the office instead of the classroom or working with PPE provided. GMB represents many Teaching Assistant's - I recommend you join so that we can help you further! www.gmb.org.uk/why-join-mn

Thanks for your time and effort with this GMB, it's great to see a union helping normal women in this way

Am currently furloughed, but considering another role that is better paid, but likely to be temporary. Can I reduce my contract temporarily in my furloughed role to take on the better paid work?

I also do a very small amount of contract work on a self-employed basis. Am I breaking any rules regarding furlough if I continue to do this?

Sorry, that’s two questions, I’d be grateful for any advice/signposting.