[Closed] Anyone else in end of furlough limbo?

Same kind of thing here.
Still furloughed but also unable to work due to injury.
Can i get an answer on what they plan to do with me next month?
Can I ****. Asked multiple times to be told we're not sure what to do yet.
Wonder if I'll get an answer before friday...

No idea if this this common place but it sounds like the employer is being piss poor. I’d be frankly embarrassed if my company did that to any employee. I’d expect minimum monthly contact between line manager and their reports in this circumstance.

I’d expect minimum monthly contact between line manager and their reports in this circumstance.

As I understand it the furlough scheme as originally set up says you must do no work at all, and some employers have interpreted this very strictly (discovering afterwards that you do not qualify could be very expensive) - meaning that managers who were furloughed would also not be able to contract employees to do this. I'm sure that was not the intention of the scheme but its certainly how I've heard it being applied.

As I understand it the furlough scheme as originally set up says you must do no work at all, and some employers have interpreted this very strictly (discovering afterwards that you do not qualify could be very expensive) – meaning that managers who were furloughed would also not be able to contact employees to do this. I’m sure that was not the intention of the scheme but its certainly how I’ve heard it being applied.

This. Though we did hold a few 'work socials' on zoom and set up a WhatsApp group so that updates could be made informally. From a leadership perspective, it's been a fine line to tread, coupled withthe 'profound economic uncertainty' that has made it tricky to set any direction with any authenticity.

5 months off for me. Got told last week to come back 2nd November full time and what I would be working on (I'm an engineer). For me the limbo has ended as the last 2 months I've put a lot of pressure on myself to find a new job but now I'm taking the last week to enjoy myself and reflect on what next.

Edit: I really feel for those who it was not so clear cut for and even more so those facing redundancy. It's a tough time.

If that’s the case it’s a really poorly defined scheme. Granted, don’t want to classify as “work” but a 10 minute call once a month to put the employee’s mind at ease is surely a good thing. Unintended consequences I guess.

Missus is out of a job as of next week. She was actually on a fixed term contract until the end of August, but her employer extended it to now so she would still have some money coming in. She's applied for loads of jobs, not much out there.

Email and call line manager and HR every day until she gets an answer. No excuse for that kind of shitness.

I really feel for people who might lose their job over this, unemployment is a horrible situation to be in, and through no fault of theirs.
It's not really been a huge problem these last 10 or so years, but along with more working, the TORY BA&^%$£'s have been winding down the social security systems, closing jobcenters,and social security offices.

It wouldnt have happened if the public showed more support for the unemployed, instead they were labelled as Benefit Scroungers, and so received no sympathy from the public whatsoever.

Because of this people are no finding huge problems receiving any sort of a fair income, though the TORY B%$^&$£'s have relaxed somewhat, but only as so many face unemployment.

Never ever vote tory. They have been at the heart of some of my greatest difficulties, and I believed shaped my life for the worse.

I was on furlough from march until August, had 2 messages in that time one to say "we want you to come back next week" and the 2nd was before I had even made it back to work "oh btw you are up for redundancy"

Managed to keep my job but at massively reduced hours, now Wales is in lockdown again I'm off for 2 weeks, using annual leave this time as already halved salary so definitely can't cope getting 2/3 of a 1/2!

Not looking good for long term viability of the business.

This is way more common than you might think. I know of one employer who has done this with over a hundred staff. No updates for months, impossible to get hold of anyone, grievance letters and employment tribunals stacking up, tried to stop furlough payments early without notice to avoid their contribution. To get paid some of the longer serving people even had to point out JRS would be much cheaper than redundancy, which seems to be the way it's going anyway. I think some employers are mistakenly hoping those still on furlough will just melt away without redundancy/notice/holiday.

I think some employers are mistakenly hoping those still on furlough will just melt away without redundancy/notice/holiday

I've thought this for a while now. Hoping they find another job and they're no longer their problem

It’s disgusting, particularly when you have an active HR department, and how the guidelines can be misconstrued as “no contact” is beyond me; sounds plain lazy.

Well, she's had news that she'll be kept on post furlough. Going back 4 days a week on full pay with the 5th non-working day on a reduced amount topped up by the employer and government. Think it works out to be about 87% of full pay. However, they're throwing a bit of a curveball in with basically a new contract for everyone and there's been a lot of noise about one particular element.

They've said that any holiday days used, will be paid at the "top up" day amount. They're not down grading anyone's holiday allowance, but any days will be paid at the lesser daily rate. This is also causing problems because a lot of people bought additional holiday days via salary sacrifice, but these days will also be paid at the lower amount.

My mrs is fairly philosophical about it and just glad to still have a job, but a lot of colleagues are going absolutely mental.

Not excusing the crap communication by the employer(s) above.

However the Job Support Scheme has been a real shambles in the way it's been announced by the government.

There have been several last minute changes since the original announcement, which for companies on the edge, or considering redundancies, would put them in a completely different position from 1st Nov.

I reckon a load of companies took the decision to start redundancies/consultation after Rishi's first announcement, which they might not have done following the changes.

And even with only 2 days to go, there still is no comprehensive guidance available for employers, and you can't claim until December.

Not sure about receiving lower pay for annual leave, that's surely contractual. I don't believe you can include it as 'furlough time' anymore either. Which also means the company gets no government support for that time. We have this situation and it's a huge cost.