Dos and don’ts of furlough leave

In the last few weeks people have become familiar with the term furloughing. It is the concept brought in by the government in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which states that an employee can be  put on a period of leave during which they are asked to stop working for the employer. The employer can claim 80% of the wage costs of each furloughed employee back from HMRC (up to a cap of £2,500 per month).

Although many people are familiar with the basic concept of furloughing, below are some dos and don’ts:

• Do make sure that the employee agrees in writing to being furloughed. This is necessary because it is a change to the contract of employment. An employee’s duties are not normally not do any work.
• Do pay employees at least statutory sick pay if they become eligible for this while on furlough.
• Do make sure that all relevant records and information are provided to HMRC.
• Don’t discriminate when deciding who to furlough, as equality legislation will still apply in the usual way e.g. don’t just furlough women in an organisation.
• Don’t undertake any work for the employer if you are an employee on furlough. However an employee can undertake work for a different employer if he/she has more than one job.
• Don’t forget that it is possible to rotate employees on furlough. An employee must be furloughed for a minimum of 3 weeks, but after that it is possible to take him/her off furlough and put someone else in the organisation on furlough instead.

If you have any concerns or questions about your situation, please do not hesitate to contact David Nathan at [email protected] or on 020 7822 2247.

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