Docked furlough pay because of holidays taken last year?

[Giespeace]

I’m a weekly paid worker, and I queried some missing money from my furlough pay last week. My employer just got back to me this evening stating that this was because I took a days holiday in week 4 last year.
Is this right? I just won’t be paid at all in a few weeks time because I took a weeks annual leave last year, effectively meaning I’m being made to repay last years holiday pay?

I’ve just had a fight with them to get them to pay me the higher of the same week last years pay or my average earnings for the year (I was on maternity from last July until the start of March) and I can’t believe it’s now my legal annual holiday entitlement that’s being held against me

We've been including holiday pay to calculate the higher of average/same period last year for workers like you OP. Its definitely allowed. However, once a claim has been made an employer cant make another for the same period so I'm not sure they will change it now. They can always top you up themselves if they are inclined to. Depends how fair your employers want to be 🤷‍♀️

@FunnyInjury
They eventually changed over to the higher of average/same pay last year, and back paid the payments for the previous weeks. They were initially adamant that it was average pay and that’s all they could do, until I pestered they into looking at the up to date guidelines.
That’s why I can’t decide if they are looking at the rules they had six weeks ago, are being over cautious because they don’t want to interpret them incorrectly and get in bother with HMRC (surely they could contact them and clarify though?) or are just trying to get rid of me.

Whether it's average pay or same pay last year doesn't affect the fact that they shouldn't reduce it because some of the time you were receiving those wages you happened to be on holiday.

If they've told you 80% of gross wages that's what you should get. You were receiving wages while on holiday.

Another way you could put it to them is to ask whether fixed rate workers are getting less than 80% of wages to account for holiday taken? I am guessing it's likely at least some employees took holiday during February - are those being penalised as well?

They are not allowed to claim furlough pay for worker who have not given their agreement to be furloughed.

That seem to be the problem - they aren’t counting wages while on annual leave as wages. God only knows what other type of payment they have decided holiday pay is.
I have asked them to confirm that any worker who took holidays a year ago are effectively having to pay them back this year through reduced furlough pay, but they wouldn’t if they had taken them later in the year.
I’ve also pointed out that as I went on maternity leave in July, all my annual leave was processed then. This includes days which would’ve normally been kept for work shutting for two weeks at Christmas, so I will be disadvantaged by receiving no pay at all for nearly a month because I had my baby this time last year, should furlough continue.

Things seemed to start happening when I raised the “maternity discrimination” flag during my last fight to be paid and I’m reluctant to hit that button again but thought it couldn’t hurt to allude to it.