Raining_again Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 Just now, Ashley said: Will send all the cats your way. Ahhhh <3 I only have one at the moment, he is getting ALL THE SMUSHES 1
gaggle64 Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Raining_again said: I have to self isolate for fucking 12 weeks.... Oh noooo. Hope they don't drag too much for you. Wasn't working today but got called in to come pick up my desk PC, now I've got the entire setup I normally have at work on my kitchen table. I find it unsettling for some reason. Edited March 24, 2020 by gaggle64
Raining_again Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 17 minutes ago, gaggle64 said: Oh noooo. Hope they don't drag too much for you. Wasn't working today but got called in to come pick up my desk PC, now I've got the entire setup I normally have at work on my kitchen table. I find it unsettling for some reason. its been 2 days and i'm losing my marbles.... i wish my work would let me do something at home but its too much effort for them to have it setup lol
Beast Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 Can someone explain, in simple terms, how the 80% wage thing works? I mean, I know the government are doing it but what I mean to ask is are small businesses eligible for this? Would I get it even though I'm working for a small business?
Blade Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 53 minutes ago, Animal said: Can someone explain, in simple terms, how the 80% wage thing works? I mean, I know the government are doing it but what I mean to ask is are small businesses eligible for this? Would I get it even though I'm working for a small business? Staff on PAYE will be eligible. So yes, small businesses are eligible. The process is called "furlough", a new term, borrowed from the US. It is a form of temporary lay off whereby the state will pay or contribute to the wages of it's citizens. In our case that is up to 80% of wages subject to a cap of £2500. You will not be at work or carrying out any work whilst on furlough. It is also subject to your agreement (you do not have to agree to it) but you do not have the right to furlough. You will be contracted to receive your full wage but your employer, if they decide to furlough you may ask you to take a 20% pay cut i.e say they cannot top up the government's 80%. If you do not accept this then the risk is that your employer may begin the redundancy process.
Beast Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 10 minutes ago, Blade said: Staff on PAYE will be eligible. So yes, small businesses are eligible. The process is called "furlough", a new term, borrowed from the US. It is a form of temporary lay off whereby the state will pay or contribute to the wages of it's citizens. In our case that is up to 80% of wages subject to a cap of £2500. You will not be at work or carrying out any work whilst on furlough. It is also subject to your agreement (you do not have to agree to it) but you do not have the right to furlough. You will be contracted to receive your full wage but your employer, if they decide to furlough you may ask you to take a 20% pay cut i.e say they cannot top up the government's 80%. If you do not accept this then the risk is that your employer may begin the redundancy process. Okay so is it the law that they have to agree to it or can they say no to it?
Blade Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 5 minutes ago, Animal said: Okay so is it the law that they have to agree to it or can they say no to it? No law for them to put staff on furlough and likewise staff can say no. However, the risk is that if staff decline then they will probably be made redundant
Agent Gibbs Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 I was knocked off my bike at the start of February, broke my elbow, sever concision and the end result was 6 weeks off work. I was back at work for all of 4 days before we had to go home and stay home, so whilst the rest of the UK moans about a week at home, i'm on week 7 or is it 8 now? Wilson what is it? he thinks i've gone mad and shouldn't talk to a football
Beast Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 24 minutes ago, Blade said: No law for them to put staff on furlough and likewise staff can say no. However, the risk is that if staff decline then they will probably be made redundant Okay, I think I get it. It's confusing times. I was wondering if I still got paid 80% or not and it was confusing everyone. So basically it's under manager discretion?
Will Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 33 minutes ago, Animal said: Okay, I think I get it. It's confusing times. I was wondering if I still got paid 80% or not and it was confusing everyone. So basically it's under manager discretion? It's under business discretion. If the company can't afford to pay you due to the drop in business they would usually make you redundant. For the next three months, they can choose to 'furlough' you instead. This basically means you remain an employee, but do not do any work, and the government pay 80% of your salary up to 2.5k. Your employer could choose to top this up. At the end of the furlough period, you would return to work as normal. This is good if the company expects business to pick back up after the virus outbreak as they can get back to regular operations without all the issues having a series of redundancies brings up. You can decline to be furloughed, but given this is an alternative to redundancies, you'll probably be made redundant. Dependent on your work status and your contract this may be preferable, but probably not.
Blade Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 Some of you may know that I am a qualified lawyer specialising in employment law. Happy to help with any covid-19 related employment queries as best I can. 4 3
Rummy Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 If accurate reliable and actually timely this could be a HUGE turning point people: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/uk-coronavirus-mass-home-testing-to-be-made-available-within-days
Ashley Posted March 25, 2020 Posted March 25, 2020 I don't believe the timing and unfortunately it has meant a lot of people have rushed down to Boots.
Cube Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 19 hours ago, Blade said: Happy to help with any covid-19 related employment queries as best I can. My girlfriend's workplace is threatening them that if there aren't enough staff to keep the store open, they're not going to bother with the 80% wage thing and nobody at that branch will be paid anything. Is that something they can do? The are no social distancing rules for customers or staff, no protection equipment is being provided (they have to buy their own hand sanitiser), no protection at tills (some stores are installing screens or having staff stand back), there's no extra cleaning, they're still taking cash and they're still advertising and having sales and offers on lots of non-essential items. They've literately just bought fridges and freezers to install in their stores so they can make extra money out of coronavirus, Oh, and to make things even more annoying, everyone at head office has been sent home with 80% pay. The ones who actually can work from home. My girlfriend doesn't would be fine if she was at somewhere like Tesco where she would be keeping essentially supplies topped up, but she's having to go into work to stock artificial flowers, shitty home decor rubbish and novelty lamps and deal with customers moaning about how they "shouldn't be open" while they've come into the store with their kids to buy a couple of mirrors. If there's one thing that this pandemic has shown us, it's what stores care about their staff and customers. The Range is one that does not care in the slightest.
Blade Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 @Cube to be on furlough is not a right for employees to exercise but rather an option for an employer to pursue in order to avoid redundancies. Therefore, the employer could commence the redundancy process should it wish to do so. This is despite, the availability of the government scheme. However, those who have over 2 years service with their employer currently have the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Should she be made redundant rather than furloughed then there is an argument that the dismissal would be unfair. 2
Happenstance Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 My school is just starting to look at putting some staff on the 80% furlough. Basically anyone who can't do their jobs from home. I'm probably teetering on the edge at the moment as I can work from home but other than IT assistance (which the main IT guy should be doing) a lot of my work will be waiting until we actually know a date for the school reopening. It won't be a massive issue if I'm one of the ones who gets put on 80% though. I'm just glad my school is actively planning that. I know a lot of places it just seems to be up in the air.
Cube Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 4 minutes ago, Blade said: However, those who have over 2 years service with their employer currently have the right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Should she be made redundant rather than furloughed then there is an argument that the dismissal would be unfair. Thanks. Although I don't think any redundancies are happening, it's just that staff won't be paid if they close until they re-open and return to work. At the moment, it looks like they will just be staying open, making staff decide between being able to pay their bills or self isolate and not providing any help. It looks like they're unfortunately doing everything legal that they have to do, they're just not doing anything more.
Will Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 2 minutes ago, Cube said: Thanks. Although I don't think any redundancies are happening, it's just that staff won't be paid if they close until they re-open and return to work. At the moment, it looks like they will just be staying open, making staff decide between being able to pay their bills or self isolate and not providing any help. It looks like they're unfortunately doing everything legal that they have to do, they're just not doing anything more. I hope after all of this is over people remember which companies supported their staff and which ones hung them out to dry. The companies that haven't supported their people during this crazy time fully deserve to go out of business once it's over. 2
Eenuh Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 Are The Range even allowed to be open? They're not an essential shop are they? Or are they claiming because they sell some food that it is fine?
Cube Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 Just now, Eenuh said: Are The Range even allowed to be open? They're not an essential shop are they? Or are they claiming because they sell some food that it is fine? They're claiming to be because of their food, toiletry, DIY and pet sections. And they've just got in fridges and freezers to start selling groceries just in case the limits get reduced.
Goafer Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 Some of our staff have been furloughed. Mainly the ones who deliver training courses in person and can't do much remotely as far as I know. As my job was remote anyway, I doubt that I'll have to. I could afford to if needed though, so not a huge issue either way. Our company seem to have done a good job of switching to remote working. We're a training provider, delivering apprenticeships and traineeships, so all our tutors have just been having remote meetings with the students, rather than face to face. Seems to be working well so far and the employers seem pretty grateful for something for their staff to actually do. We also do a lot of training within the care and retail sector, so although we can't meet the staff face to face, we can still offer training and apprentice recruitment when they're presumably struggling and desperate for staff.
drahkon Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 Looks like us student assistants are going to be "reintroduced" to work again next week. The plan (sent to us by email) is that only one of us is in the office at a time and contact to our supervisors is being held to a minimum. While I personally appreciate it (I really need to get out) I can see how some of my colleagues might be worried. I've mentioned that in my response to said email. Really hope the entire team keeps those worries in mind.
Jimbob Posted March 26, 2020 Posted March 26, 2020 I'm fortunate that my employer is letting me work from home for the foreseeable future, which puts my mind at ease. Last week, i was getting increasingly anxious about using public transport and was asking to work from home then as to avoid using it. I'm keeping roughly to my usual routine as much as possible (up at the same time i normally get up on a weekday etc) just so it stays fresh and when i do eventually get called back to the office, it won't be a shock to the system.
Mandalore Posted March 27, 2020 Posted March 27, 2020 I was on annual leave this week. Got an email off my employer on Wednesday afternoon saying they were shutting down and I had until 4pm to accept furloughed status. Luckily I was keeping an eye on my emails.
Cube Posted March 27, 2020 Posted March 27, 2020 The Range (the one my girlfriend works at) were visited by the police yesterday. They told the manager that they were putting lives at risk by the amount of unessential items being sold. The police (from midnight last night) now have powers to do more. So now there can only be 20 members of the public in store, no more than two in a group and they would warn customers that unessential purchases can come with a £60 fine. So at least now they've been forced to do a bit more.
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