Many engineers are pooling their resources to combat Covid-19 while others have been furloughed from the battle by employers in receipt of a government incentive to retain employees.
Furlough is a leave of absence designed to protect employees from redundancy. Introduced by chancellor Rishi Sunak, the scheme will see government pay 80 per cent of an employee’s salary up to £2500, with the employer paying the remainder at their discretion.
Read more Covid-19 content from The Engineer
The Coronavirus job retention scheme is initially in place for three months and open to all UK employers that operate a PAYE system. Applicable to any type of UK organisation, the scheme is also open to full and part time employees, plus those on agency contracts or flexible/zero hour contracts.
Of the 2,600 people that took part in our weekly poll, 45 per said that a large number of employees at their company had been placed on furlough leave. A quarter of respondents said that furlough was currently applicable to a small number of employees, and 30 per cent reported that its business as usual at their company.
Click here for more information on the Coronavirus job retention scheme
In the comments that followed, Dave Richardson said: “My firm has furloughed more than half its mobile engineer workforce and are not planning to make up the 20% shortfall in pay. And now are planning to subcontract out work, on an ad hoc basis to fill the gap between manpower and capacity required. That cannot be right surely? And it seems that although the furloughed staff are to get 80% of their basic pay, those who are still working, should they fall ill, will only be entitled to SSP. I looked in the mirror, but couldn’t see “mug” on my forehead, but it sure feels like it!”
Brian said: “A company has a requirement to remain solvent. They can’t pay you if there is no money coming in without racking up huge debits, which will put the business in jeopardy. Like the laws of physics, the laws of economics can’t be broken no matter how nice you think it might be!”
Employer Craig added: “My understanding would be that the alternative is redundancies. I am in a similar position, but I am the employer. We are keen to furlough all staff but have no way of paying them until the monies arrive from government and we don’t want to proceed with forced redundancies either. It’s a very difficult position for both employees and employer.”
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‘Furlough’, sounds so grand, so low impact, let’s call a spade a spade !
People are being laid off and they may, or may not, get some small amount of money from the government via their employer, after (in)appropriate deductions.
There’s no business as usual, lives are going to be ruined as is the economy.
Unfortunately, while I can work many of my suppliers and maintenance bodies have, along with clients potential and otherwise who are self isolating! Luckily (?) I am self employed.
No “furlough” but certainly not the business as usual referred to in the survey!
Let’s be quite frank – it is unethical. You work for an employer – they accept the risks of doing business and get your skills and take all the profits (or absorb the losses), while you get a relatively low salary and continuity. “We’ll pay you (but only when things are going okay and the directors can afford new yachts)” is not what the relationship should be.
Interestingly no ‘Vote’ option to say people have been made permanently redundant – suspect that might be a significant number as its the only real option for many companies unless they are prepared to rack up debit. Government help has been worse than pathetic in terms of speed of response and applicability to businesses especially smaller ones.
This government response across the board has been consistently bad in dealing SARS-Cov-2. But guess that is to be expected from a government without a background in STEM subjects – should be a requirement for any PM!
The situation is unprecedented and the GU Gov’t have taken unprecedented action. Too easy to blame them, lets just wait to see what the effects are. If it works and the economy more or less keeps going, there will be a lot of column inches to read in the broadsheet press!.
I note that Labour Party leaders are trying to claim that Socialism has come to the rescue.
Maybe it is merely pragmatism.
That certainly doesn’t apply to many engineering companies I know – often the owners get a lot less than those working for them. A company has a requirement to remain solvent they can’t pay you if there is no money coming in without racking up huge debits, which will put the business in jeopardy .
Like the laws of physics, the laws of economics can’t be broken no matter how nice you think it might be!
For me work and enquiries have virtually dried up, so the government support is welcome – though they’ve dropped a broad hint that it will have to be paid for by higher taxes in future, so perhaps it should really be considered a loan … ?
More generally: furlough – basically gardening leave – (I had to look it up) seems a reasonable response. The employee gets 80% of full pay, which most should be able to get by on and the employer could pay the balance for especially valued workers. It’s all about retention – losing good people and recruiting and bringing up to speed new workers is an expensive business
Yes, company laws require insolvent companies to stop trading and essentially close down. To abide by the law is to lay off all your staff if there are no sales.
What are you supposed to do when you started a job after the 28th of Feb as I’m not eligible for the furlough even though I am employed
I missed furlough by a couple of days .
Left my previous job as dreadful .
There is a loophole for those in new employment
If you’ve been let go recently, you can ask your employer to take you back and furlough you. I’m an employer myself so i know this well, the shortest period they can furlough you is 3 weeks, after that time you can be called back in to work if things change, equally, they have every right to let you go – depending on your contract this could be instant dismissal or you could have to work out your notice period/ leave period.
the issue with this scheme is that employers have to pay the staff first and hope that the government refunds them the money via a grant. If a business is already really struggling with cash flow and can’t access the funds needed, then they may not even be able to afford to furlough someone.
hope you can get some money back.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-self-employed-and-employment-help/?utm_source=MSE_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=31-Mar-20-50599895-1067&utm_campaign=nt-hiya&utm_content=18#limited
We are currently on a two week mandatory holiday our employee says we cannot have furlough as we are not on jobs at risk our company has a very large number of men in furlough on a site in hull and yet are not on jobs at risk. We have been told we will return maybe next week as they have put measures in place to keep us safe ? How does a pipefitter and welder set buts up 2 metres apart
We are not 100% focused on safety in the situation we are faced. Also what about first aid who’s going to want to perform this. Not happy at all with our management on this decision but we have no choice we get spotballed if we speak out
No one here is furloughed, even though there is a skeleton crew. Many of us are concerned that we still have to come into work when we are not essential/key workers.
I have (had) 30 employees before all this . I want to furlough my staff but as far as I can see there is still no way of doing this . Nor has the grant arrived from the chancellor . Technically we are bust , its all promises so far it seems.
I work for an agency and the company I work for has closed for the forseable and the agency say I’m not entitled to furlough because there offering other work outside of my travel distance and I need to look after my children while my wife works in a care home doing more hours than usual anything I can do
I got a letter from the government stating to stay in self isolation for 12 weeks , I called the company I work for to inform them about the letter , i asked about furlough, I was told because they are a home help company and still working I will get statutory sick pay ,
I have been furloughed and my boss hasn’t advised us about our wages it seems he thinks we the staff have to wait until the government pays the retention scheme grants. But I believe from researching that because we are furloughed and still in the payroll that my boss should still be paying our wages and then when the government portal is open he can then claim back the wages he has paid. If he says can’t pay us until he gets the money off the government how does this leave the workers
My employer has closed the business and refusing to furlough anyone
My firm has furloughed MORE THAN HALF its mobile engineer workforce and are NOT planning to make up the 20% shortfall in pay.
And now are planning to SUB CONTRACT out work, on an ad hoc basis to fill the gap between manpower and capacity required. That cannot be right surely.
AND it seems that although the Furloughed staff are to get 80% of their basic pay, those who are still working, should they fall ill, will only be entitled to ssp……….?? I looked in the mirror, but couldnt see “MUG” on my forehead, but it sure feels like it!
My employer refuses to furlough any employee as he sees it that he is paying for you to sit at home , then next breath it is because he cannot afford to do it !
So reduced hours by 50 % and talking about reducing by another 50 % so working 35 hours a month and by doing that we are not eligable for gov scheme !!
My understanding would be that the alternative is redundancies. I am in a similar position but I am the employer. We are keen to furlough all staff but have no way of paying them until the monies arrive from gov and we don’t want to proceed with forced redundancies either. It’s a very difficult position for both employees d employer
Who are you angry at? The government didn’t cause this, bro. They’re just doing their best to help as many as they can. Give it a rest.
Worked for a business for 5 years Monday’s & Wednesdays 10 hours in total @ £10.35 p/h. I have no written contract. Boss says I’m self employed so no furlough HMRC says I don’t earn enough for self assessment. What do I do?
I work for a business of 15 employees 7 of us including myself have been furloughed who are office staff. Manufacturing are still working as normal for now.
I am an engineer presently at risk of being furloughed and I totally agree with Matthew Titley, unfortunately the harsh reality is everyone will be affected by this, some more than others. However with the current situation people need to start acting with a decent moral compass! Many company high earners could easliy take pay cuts saving jobs by providing a cash-flow buffer instead of adding to the Rolex collection. Also lets think of all the NHS workers and for me especially the district Nurses who in some cases are currently having to visit known COVID-19 patients in their homes with the only protection a paper apron, gloves and a reused paper face mask. These Nurses are struggling to provide community patient care with little protection and they know that; like lambs the the slaughter. Sometimes things are bad but it could be alot worse….
i have been furloughed to the 19th, in for one day then furlough again till the 29th
My husband has been furloughed but his company has since employed a new member of staff on full wage. This can’t be right surely!
Mathew, I’m angry at the government because the predicament we are in IS a direct cause of successive and current government policies:
> The actions needed to be taken based on previous pandemic disaster modelling were ignored as too expensive – that’s why we have a shortage of ventilators and masks, for example;
> Hospital, healthcare staff shortages all caused through sustained policies of underfunding and privatisation – austerity was and is a political choice based on money rather than social help;
> Zero hour contracts and a loss of workers rights – now maybe people see how exposed they really are ?
The government is currently giving money to banks and big employers to dole out to SMEs and employees, anyone see the problem with this ? Why not give money ‘directly’ to SMEs and employees ?
The jury is still out as to whether this pandemic was manufactured or ‘accidental’ but the fact is that this governments policies and current actions in relation to it are not anywhere near good enough.
What is to happen to the staff, who are in my eyes are holding the fort, whilst half of the staff are put on furlough scheme earning 80% of their wage for no work? Or am I missing something somewhere??
The employers I work for could have furloughed employees. They chose not to, just shut down the business and told everyone they were fired so they could disappear to their big house in the country, no p45s have been issued, nothing was put into writing, we werent even paid for our outstanding holidays and they refuse to answer emails or texts . Their employees with families and children have just been left to fend for themselves. I want to know if there’s some legal recourse for this as they’ve massively screwed everyone over.
I have been sitting in my home office using the internet to calculate design loadings and select suitable equipment for future projects, in the hope that we can survive this and get every one back to work.
Lets face the truth, even if the promised aid to pay 80% of furloughed staff eventually arrives , no orders means no profit margin to pay all the other outgoings that are required to keep the business viable even in virtual shutdown.
If this goes on as long as the pundits are warning, most SME will be out of business and the hit to the economy will be a disaster with far reaching effects , way beyond that caused directly by the Covid 19 virus.
Borrowing to keep the business afloat merely delays the inevitable, and actually makes the economic outcome worse by increasing the overall debt.
It is now the turn of the bankers to bail out the SME, or there may not be any for them to exploit for years to come.
Can someone please clarify the rules around the furlough – if someone has been furloughed can the employer then ask them to return to work 1 day per week on full pay and then furlough them for the other 4?? As I understood it if a person was furloughed it had to be for a 3 week period minimum not 4 days on and 1 day full pay??
I am between companies and my new employer has just asked my old employer if they could furlough me and he has refused.
What are people like me supposed to do?
How is this right ?
At the place I work, half the work force have been furloughed on 80% pay
The other half? Which I am one
Are still working on 80% pay ? Admittedly reduced hours ? 1.5hrs a day less?
All that are still working would rather do the extra 1.5hrs a day and receive our full pay??
We are the ones keeping the business running? Why should we be penalised and loose money??
My company has furloughed large numbers of full time workers while still keeping some agency staff on full pay?
also some people have been kept on because of there essential or critical skills required,I found that not to be the case as I’ve noticed the people they have retained have less skills than the people they have furloughed,it’s a case of if your face fits your alright
How can i check if my company has put me on furlough but not told me and i’m still working for them?
It has to be a minimum of three weeks. The letter from the company should explain it all
I think it’s great what Martins achieved, but think the government still needs to look relook at furlough.
I just started with a new employer on the 16th March left my old job on the 13th, emailed my old employer, knew I was wasting my time but swallowed my pride. As anticipated it was a “no we can’t do this”.
Why would they do this for me after leaving, I left because they didn’t care about there employee’s when I was there.
I have a new job they would like to furlough me, HMRC have pay slips, I have emails stating my job offer all the proof they need. I have been very lucky as they are paying me 50% of my monthly salary but wonder how long this will last.
Why has the government created an obstacle in the fact of going back to your old employer when I have an employer willing to furlough me.
I resigned from my employer 3 days before I received a email saying I was furloughed for the remainder of my months notice. Are my employers legally allowed to do this?
Might seem unfair, but you have essentailly been deemed in the top 50% most valuable employees at your company. When the lay-offs happen when the 3 month furlough period is over, you’ll still have a job, the furloughed will not.
Furlough should surely be rotated in all businesses where it has been implemented.
It is absolutely, utterly unfair that a number of staff remain behind to perform the lion’s share of the work whilst their colleagues are paid a fairly modest 80% of their wage (basically, paid for Monday to Thursday) for being at home with their families, resting and safe from not just coronavirus, but other workplace hazards.
Where furlough cannot be rotated – at the very, very least – the hard working staff who are being put at risk by the employer to keep the business afloat should be generously rewarded.
If you have been furloughed for 3 weeks then go back to work for a further 3 weeks ,and then furloughed again does this affect you further furlough 80%
We may have to call staff out of furlough after 3 weeks because of increasing better than expecte business activity but am expecting resistance to this. A factor in selecting staff for furlough was attitude. Better to have a willing and reliable crew manning the ship during a storm rather than a reluctant one.