Back to Work from Furlough

Bringing Furloughed Employees back to Work

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was a huge support system announced by the Government back in March 2020 to help avoid redundancies.  Employers and Employees alike were in agreement about taking advantage of the scheme in the hope that business would soon be back to normal. As restrictions start to ease and businesses are able to bring back employees to work many employers are surprised to find employees are now refusing to return to work off furlough.

The are some understandable anxieties employees will have about returning to work such as:

·      Childcare

·      Caring for someone who is vulnerable or shielding in the family or they themselves are shielding/vulnerable

·      Fear of traveling on public transport

·      Fear of workplace itself not being a safe place to return to

Engage with Employees to prepare them to come off Furlough

Employers should engage and communicate in advance with employees about a return to work and it is worthwhile carrying out a short survey with staff to understand their concerns before asking them to return to work.  

All parties have to be clear that it is not going to be possible to eliminate the risk of Covid-19 but to make reasonable changes inline with a specific Covid-19 risk assessment to reduce the level of risk.  Share this with your employees so they can understand the commitment employers have to the health and safety of their employees.

Listen to your employees about their specific concerns and work with them to find a solution that works for both parties.  Some alternatives to consider are:

·      staggering start and finish times if the employee has to carry out the work in the workplace;

·      redeploy into an alternative job either from home or in the workplace;

·      working from home in the evening and weekends when there may be another family member available to help with childcare;

·      providing a bike rack or additional car park space if employees are worried about travelling on public transport

Employees that are Shielding

The Government recently announced that those shielding, from 1 August, will be able to go their workplace, if they are unable to work from home. You can find our more information about this here.

If despite reasonable considerations being considered, they are not viable and there is work for the employee to return to it may be appropriate to place the employee on unpaid leave or ask them to take annual leave.  Many employers will start to think about this as the forthcoming changes to the furlough scheme mean the employer will now need to contribute to the costs.  However, care should be taken as the majority of employees who are responsible for childcare and caring of family members tend to be women and any unfair treatment could lead to discrimination claims.

Unfortunately, there is a minority of employees where their refusal to return to work is not reasonable and may be difficult. Employers should take advice on procedures to follow before starting disciplinary action.  

As ever Lunar HR are here to help, support and advise on any issues you may be facing - you can contact us for further information.