Furlough and holidays

[user909670]

If someone has been off sick for 12 months, full pay for 24 weeks and the SSP until week 28 and then no pay. If they are then ready to return to work but employer makes them go on furlough in order to use their holiday entitlement they have accrued (April - March) Can employer do this? There is work available, no need to furlough for work reasons.

Yes I think an employer can ask you to go on furlough. My understanding is taht the benefit to them is that they can claim the furlough amount from the government and just pay the top up to the 100% amount and that also the many days you have accrued can be dealt with before your return, thus when you do start back you will be starting with a clean slate as far as leave due to you.

The government job retention scheme is intended to assist companies impacted by covid. So no, an employer should not be putting people on furlough in order to get government funding for holiday pay as appears to be here. But in practical terms, I don’t really see what can be done about it, unless the person wants to report their employer but I doubt that would have any immediate effect.

I thought that employers have to pay 100% when furloughed staff take annual leave so what is the benefit of furlough?

@user909670

If someone has been off sick for 12 months, full pay for 24 weeks and the SSP until week 28 and then no pay. If they are then ready to return to work but employer makes them go on furlough in order to use their holiday entitlement they have accrued (April - March) Can employer do this? There is work available, no need to furlough for work reasons.

They can’t claim furlough funding if they’re using the scheme purely for holiday. It would be fraud. Which doesn’t mean they won’t do it

@Jellifer

I thought that employers have to pay 100% when furloughed staff take annual leave so what is the benefit of furlough?

The benefit is the employer can claim 80% so the holiday only costs them 20%

Are they making you take all your annual leave in this period? To do this they have to give you appropriate notice and they can only furlough you if there is a genuine need for it I.e. there is no work there for you to do, otherwise its fraud x

I thought that employers have to pay 100% when furloughed staff take annual leave so what is the benefit of furlough?

The benefit is the employer can claim 80% so the holiday only costs them 20%

I thought they had to pay in full for annual leave as well, but apparently not

However, as taking holiday does not break the furlough period, the employer can continue to claim the 80% grant from the government to cover most of the cost of holiday pay.

That's bit off really

From
www.gov.uk/guidance/holiday-entitlement-and-pay-during-coronavirus-covid-19

They can do it Op, but they need to give you the appropriate notice to enforce you taking the holiday. Likely your business is quieter now than it will be when things open up again, plus if you've been out of the workplace for an extended period, having you take holiday before you return will have minimum disruption for the company and also means you won't be taking excessive leave as and when things start to get busy again. Appreciate you may not like it, but it sounds like the company is working in their best interest.

@Jellifer

I thought that employers have to pay 100% when furloughed staff take annual leave so what is the benefit of furlough?

The benefit is that employers claim 80% of that back from the government rather than simply paying out all the accrued holiday pay.

@VinterKvinna

I thought that employers have to pay 100% when furloughed staff take annual leave so what is the benefit of furlough?

The benefit is the employer can claim 80% so the holiday only costs them 20%

I thought they had to pay in full for annual leave as well, but apparently not

However, as taking holiday does not break the furlough period, the employer can continue to claim the 80% grant from the government to cover most of the cost of holiday pay.

That's bit off really

What makes you think if the employer is claiming back 80% therefore it is only costing them 20% that the employee isn't being paid in full?? 805 funded by HMRC, 20% funded by the employer = 100% to employee.