Post Furlough Challenges - What next for employers?

The Covid pandemic came out the blue and lockdown was sudden. It’s fantastic that the Government stepped up to offer furlough support to help retain staff. However, there is a risk that furlough has simply delayed problems rather than fix them. When the lockdown is eased, we will be returning to a business world with scarred suppliers and cautious customers and employees who are looking to be paid in full.

We are already advising clients on the likely issues that will arise when employees come out of lockdown:

Holidays

• How are you managing the accrual of holidays for those furloughed workers? Employees currently on leave still have their full entitlement.
• Can you refuse holidays requests as soon as the lockdown is over? When staff return, and you are back to paying them, you might lose another two week’s productivity.
• Will you limit the amount of carried over holiday leave into next year? Legislation might allow this, but you can formally agree otherwise.

Resource Requirements

• Will you be phasing the return from furlough leave? If you don’t need all your staff, or want some to come back early, there could be problems if you cherry pick returners.
• Do you need to consider lay-offs or short-time working? This needs to be with agreement.
• If the work takes times to return, is there an ability to redeploy? If not, should you consider restructure or redundancy?

Salary Costs

• Will you need to consider pay cuts? Without furlough, will the cash be there to pay? What if your staff don’t agree a cut and make a claim?
• Is there any contractual right to bonus payments or salary increases? This will still exist, even in the current crisis.

Social Distancing

• What are your ongoing health and safety obligations? Could you operate with staff 2m apart and socially distancing?
• How do you deal with vulnerable employees? Some may not want to risk infection in the work place.
• How can you ensure a safe system of work if we are still under social distancing guidance? Your obligation under Health & Safety regulations is to do so.

Our clients are looking to prepare for these issues as soon as they can, taking the prudent view to be ready if government support is pulled as quickly as it was given.

Please contact one of our employment partners srobertson@gilsongray.co.uk or gmillar@gilsongray.co.uk to discuss how we can help you.

The information and opinions contained in this blog are for information only. They are not intended to constitute advice and should not be relied upon or considered as a replacement for advice. Before acting on any of the information contained in this blog, please seek specific advice from Gilson Gray.