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Martin Alcock
Alan Bowen
Debbie Flynn
Basia Kolosinska
Claire Steiner
Jonathan Wall
Hi,
I work in the cruise industry and was put on furlough on 9th April until further notice but received a phone call last night at 5.30pm to say I was being made redundant with a week's notice but that the company would pay me until the end of May. When I queried their reasons for this and asked if I could stay on the furlough scheme until the end of June, I was told no because they could not afford to cover my costs. I did challenge them on what these costs were because I am on 80% furlough pay which they are not topping up.
I started my employment with them on 1st Feb and my probation was due to end at the end of April but I was furloughed two weeks short of this but assured my probation was simply going to be put on hold and would resume once 'things were back to normal'. I have received nothing but glowing feedback to date and this has come as a complete shock - although I had anticipated it would perhaps be the case at the end of June.
I have emailed them several times today to query why my employment is costing them when two separate accountants and ACAS have advised that there should be no costs to the company however they have failed to answer my queries and I have been told that their decision is final. I have not had a conversation with my manager, only the phone call to say I was being made redundant from the company director which was followed up with a call from the HR manager half an hour later - at my request. Below is a paragraph from the JRS letter which I signed in April as well as the latest email from my employer.
I would hugely appreciate any advice as this all seems so unfair and I can't understand why they won't allow me to stay on furlough until the end of June. I am now being pushed into signing my termination letter which I am not comfortable doing and they have now threatened me with a delay on my final pay if I take too long to sign and return this to them.
Many thanks in advance,
Laura Griffiths
JRS
The Furloughed Worker designation will be effective from 9th April 2020 and will continue for the period as defined by the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Your eligibility for the scheme is also dependent on meeting the Government’s defined criteria, which are also subject to ongoing definition and clarification by the Government. The Company might extend this.
Latest email from employer
Dear Laura
Thank you for your email and expressing your concerns.
We understand that this news is not ideal, especially in the current climate, but unfortunately the decision to terminate your employment is final. The termination of your contract and the Furlough Scheme are two separate entities. The same process would have applied if you were not furloughed. Your contract could have been terminated at any time during your probation period with only one week’s notice. We appreciate the situation this leaves you in and have extended your notice period to 3.5 weeks as a gesture of good will.
In regards to your concerns about furlough pay, I can assure you that we have followed the Governments guidelines for the payment of staff on the Furlough scheme and have checked your payments during your furlough period which are correct as per the details provided by Rachel.
Please can you sign and return the letter that was sent this morning as soon as possible, and as per my previous email, you will need to package up any company equipment and inform Rachel of the size and weight so we can arrange a courier to collect.
Any delay in the receiving of the letter or all company equipment allocated to you could result in a delay in your final pay.
Abra DunsbyWe've had the following response from Joanna Chatterton, partner and head of employment team at Fox Williams:
"Dear Laura
Thank you for your query and we are very sorry to hear that you have been made redundant during this difficult time.
You are correct that the government’s Job Retention Scheme is designed to help employers retain staff during this unprecedented period of economic hardship for businesses and individuals. However, the government also explicitly recognises that “different businesses will face different impacts from coronavirus”, and that could include a redundancy situation arising. In fact, the government’s guidance for employees on the scheme explicitly allows for this eventuality: “Your employer can still make you redundant while you’re on furlough...”
Although you rightly point to the fact that whilst your pay is being reimbursed to your employer through the furlough scheme, and that is technically not a cost to your employer at the moment, your employer will likely be looking to the future and will be conscious that the government’s furlough scheme will be wound-down from the end of June. With that in mind, your employer will have been reviewing its staffing requirements on return from furlough.
Unfortunately, as you are new to the business you will be cheaper to dismiss than employees doing the same job but who have over 2 years’ service. This is because, unlike them, you haven’t worked long enough to be entitled to a redundancy payment and you don’t have sufficient service to claim your dismissal is unfair, for example, because you have not been fairly selected for redundancy.
I note that you have been offered an enhancement of the 1 week you would have been entitled to within your (extended) probation period, and at least that is a small bonus. Had you completed your notice period I expect your notice period would have been longer than 1 week. If the increase would have been longer than the additional 3.5 week’s offered you might want to try to increase this payment – after all, you were very close to the end of the probation, it would have expired by now and it sounds like you would certainly have passed. Your employer could have offered this on an ex gratia basis as compensation for loss of employment and therefore not subject to deduction for PAYE so it would be worth more to you.
Although it’s not a satisfactory end to your employment at all, unless you can show you have been discriminated against or dismissed for being a “whistle-blower” it’s unlikely you have a claim against your employer arising from your dismissal and shouldn’t pass up the money they have offered you.
We hope you found this advice helpful, although we are sure it is not quite the response you were hoping for."
Abra DunsbySorry to hear this. We've passed your query on to one of our experts and will be in touch with a response as soon as we have one.
Thanks
Former MemberThank you Abra
Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
