do we pay a bank holiday on top of furlough pay?

We have furloughed our fitters for 3 weeks and want them to return to work for a week when the goods arrive from Germany, our work is outdoors and we can fit using safe distancing and do not need customer contact. Can we bring them back after 3 weeks, do the weeks work and the re furlough until further work is ready to install?

if we have reduced someone's pay through short time working (ie to 80% pay - one day less working) if we then need to Furlough them will we be furloughing them based on 80% of their full pay before short time working or 80% of their pay after short time working (ie 80% of their 80% pay)

We had some starters who joined 2 March on TUPE transfers. Can we claim for them CJRS pay for them?

Hi Jackie - I can confirm that one Director can be furloughed. With regards to your maternity enquiry it would depend on the persons type of contract of employment but the guidance does state that the figure to use is her normal wage (i.e. not reflecting reduced pay due to maternity). This fits in with the wording in the guidance which talks about the employee’s “regular wage” (which is after all the wage she would have been on had she come back to work as normal after maternity leave). It also avoids maternity discrimination which could be asserted if you based her payments on a lower figure simply because she has taken maternity leave. ‘

If a furlough employee requests holiday do we then pay 80% of salary AND 100% holiday, or just holiday?

Will holiday accrue during furlough time?

If an employee the cannot work for 3 weeks. If we want to bring them back what sort of notice period is required?

Julie: the minimum furloughed period is the three weeks, so assuming they are off yes you can return them for a week and then furlough them again (for a minimum of 3 weeks) but please be aware you will need to issue new letters and start the furlough consultation process again for the second period of furloughing

Do you have a Template Furlough Contract Variation letter available please?

Hi. I have a question around training while furloughed. Are employees allowed to train each other while on furlough? (I.e. knowledge transfer between employees to improve skills)

If I have furloughed an emeployee, can thye be a volunteer and pick items up form the shop which the employee has been furloughed from. The customer would request not the shop.

Hi

As our staff are furloughed, we are funding ourselves the 80% payment so when the HMRC eventually pay us, that can be classed as already paid to the staff? as we do not want the employees to be out of pocket for too long

Julie: Yes that is correct

Hi Stephen

What is an ePAYE ref number??

Hi Claire: It is your PAYE Reference Number

Would it be worth creating a new Sage nominal showing the Furloughed amount, keeping it separate in accounts ready for the grant?

HI David: It is my understanding that a furloughed employee can volunteer and it not impact their employment with you, assuming their is nothing within their contract of employment with you that could/would prevent this

some of our employees are contracted 44 hours but can do a few hours either side of this, on this basis can I just calculate 80% on the 44 hours?

can an employee that has be furloughed now opt out of the auto enrolment? so they have a bit more cash in their pocket?

Hi, on a webinar yesterday attendees were told that furloughed workers could provide training from home as long as their employer paid for it (ie on top of 80% of pay) at equal to or > NMW. sounds like a good idea re keeping up engagement or where non furloughed employee needs instruction on aspect of job. can you confirm this please?

Our team receive a variable pay each month. They either get a percentage of their total takings or basic pay (they receive the greatest). I would interpret this as a variable wage as this is not a bonus but govt website says no commission. Should we be paying the variable amount or basic pay please?

our fitters are paid overtime, we are seasonal and as they have been employed over 12months, we were going to take the average of last year but tracey just said overtime may or may not be included, should we include now whilst we are paying or wait for further clarification

Hi Emma: Although there is no guidance as yet on this, we would suggest doing what you can to assist and support you when it comes to extracting the detail for the JRS application

Debbier: based on the guidance, for employees with varied hours contract the pay should be calculated on the 12 month average

LPM: An employee can choose to opt out of a pension scheme at any point but please be aware this has to be their decision and you can not influence. I would suggest you ask them to speak to the pension provider rather than you saying

f we have reduced someone's pay through short time working (ie to 80% pay - one day less working) if we then need to Furlough them will we be furloughing them based on 80% of their full pay before short time working or 80% of their pay after short time working (ie 80% of their 80% pay)

Julie: Although the guidance currently details that Commission and Fees is not to be included there is no guidance as yet as to whether or not Overtime should or should not be included

Alison: As yet the guidance is not completely clear on this, I would hope this is addressed by the Government in further guidance releases

can we furlough if we have reduced hours through short time working

?

IF the employer top up the salary to the actual contractual amount. Is it still necessary to amend the contract of the employees who are in Furlough?

Zabihullahsafdari: As per Kate's comments just now, yes you will still be required to follow the furlough process and write to them and obtain their consent

should a bank holiday day get paid on top og furlough pay?

Joannele: yes they can be, you would need to check their contracts of employment and seek guidance if unsure/unclear as to the payments due whilst they are on furlough leave

Can I check the 3 week furlough period....Gov site indicated 3 weeks....it didn't say it had to be continuous. Is it definite that it must be continuous?

Barry: I can confirm it has to be a continuous period of 3 weeks as a minimum amount of leave

Thank for confiriming. Never heard it referred to as an ePAYE ref number before.

If employees are generating income for the future but the business potentially has no income now or for the next 6 months. could they be furloughed?

what do we do if we don't get written consent from our employees re being put on furlough?

Can an email be classed as written consent?

What information needs to be in the furlough letter?

As training is allowed, can employees train each other on furlough?

I would like to furlough staff to stem costs, however my employees don't want to be put on furlough. They are asking what happens if they refuse. What are the options please?

Does holiday still accrue while on furlough?

Jacky: Yes it does

If an employee has pre booked holiday and it falls in a period that they are fuloughed, can we still deduct that from their holiday?

Seems drivers could receive CPC training whilst on furlough?

Hello. What are rules if an employee refuses to be furloughed once they have received their letter?

re the training question - isn't it a question of proportionality? ie provision of a password or reminder on which excel spreadsheet to complete is on;ly a small proportion of total service provided?

than

s

thanks Tracey - again the

thanks tr

Hello. I also have an employee who will be expecting a baby in August. We will need to furlough her at the moment. she is concerned this will effect he SMP calculations moving forward. Any comments? Thank you.

Thanks Tracey, re 'if they have no work today - theu are likely to have a little work to do - say 10-15 % of normal but great point about business survival.thanks

Can an employer furlough employees apart of one so that that one can do all jobs of other colleagues? Can that employee refuse it?

Note sure that Kate really answered the query from Admin. What does happen, where the employee disagrees. Are they on full pay until you make them redundant, so they could eek out full pay for march and into April?

apologies if I missed the answer but can I pay bank holiday pay as well as furlough, mindful we have two coming in the next week

I agree. We're told it is the Employers choice, but that we must get written consent. What if they don't. We can say as often as we like that it is jeopardising the future of the business but not all employees will see it like that

Thank you all very much. That was really useful!

Thank you Tracey and Kate. Really appreciated

Thank You!

Thank you

Thank you as ever

thanks for the webinar. great using zoom...

thank you very much, really informative

Thank you

Thank You

Many thanks

Many thanks

Thanks

thankyou

Thank you. Very informative webinar,.

Thank you

Many thanks

Thanks!

Thank you, very helpful. Keep safe everyone

Thanks you

Thank you

From Christine Massey

thanks!