Revised Furlough Leave

Following the latest lockdown, the Job Support Scheme planned for 1 November has been suspended until the start of December; possibly later.

As a result, workers, including employees and agency workers, can now be placed on furlough leave. It is not necessary for a worker to have previously been placed on furlough to qualify for the new furlough scheme (which is the same version as that in August 2020 where the government pays 80% of the workers’ wages and the employer pays 13.8% Employers’ national insurance and also pension contributions).

It’s of note that workers can be either full time or flexi-furloughed and need to sign an appropriate agreement. Workers can take leave during this period which employers can force workers to take as long as twice as much notice is given as the amount of holiday taken. All leave must be paid at 100%.

Furlough Leave can be used for workers who are working their notice, but it must be paid at 100% of their contractual rate of pay.

More detail is here.