Furlough Fraud: Don't fall into a trap!

My last blog discussed the challenges faced by working parents, with many having been expected to work full time whilst also educating their children 6 hrs of the day. It has been a tough time out there for all of us, and for businesses employing any number of staff, the pressure to retain their current workforce levels and not succumb to making redundancies in order to save the future of their organisation, is great.  

So we were all very extremely relieved to hear that the government was stepping in to support all businesses who may be in exactly that situation. Put very simply the government have been paying 80% (up to ￡2,500 a month) of the wages of employees unable to work due to the corona-virus pandemic, if staff are kept on by their employer.

According to HMRC, this scheme has helped protect more than 9.3 million jobs through the pandemic, with employers claiming more than ￡25.5 billion to support wages.

 The Rules: So what does furlough mean?

An employee cannot undertake work for, or on behalf of the employer, or any organisation linked to or associated with the employer’s organisation whilst on furlough. This includes providing services or generating revenue for any such business.

Put bluntly, is the following allowed for those who have been furloughed by their businesses?

Business meetings - NO

Checking email - NO

Promotional activity - NO

As far as I'm aware, if furloughed there is a minimum period of 3 weeks whereby an employee must not undertake any activities related to their work, unless this is specific training.

Not all are acting lawfully.

In my line of work, I am lucky to speak with many professionals across a number of industries and whilst the challenges of Covid have meant that many businesses have put plans on hold and many others have suffered terribly because of the current pandemic, the basic need for us all to communicate has not.

In my countless conversations within the working community and also friends and family, I am shocked to hear that in a few cases, not only have many furloughed employees been advised to continue certain aspects of their role from home whilst furloughed, in some situations, employers are actually going as far as using threat tactics to continue business as usual whilst the government are covering their staffing costs.

Whilst the majority of hiring managers and leaders are, I'm sure, well aware of the rules surrounding this assistance from the government, I have learned that some employees are still being called (on their work number) on a daily basis to see what they have been doing, or agreeing set objectives for the week. It seems that many of these from within Business Development roles, but also Operational and from within the care sector. Many having been advised that as the company is still paying 20% of their wages, they should expect to do a little work to help the company and ensure that the sales pipeline does not fall off a cliff.

Where do employees stand?

This is of course such a difficult situation for many, as I hear the lengths that some businesses have been taking to ensure that their workers are proactively contacting the market after being furloughed. You may be someone who had been hired just before the lock down and keen to impress the business, therefore in two minds as to what you should or shouldn’t do. Perhaps you have been put under pressure by being told the business may not survive unless they had put staff on furlough, but they still need all staff to commit to helping the business pull through.

I read an article recently which suggested that about a third of employees have been asked to commit furlough fraud during the Covid-19 lock-down and according to a survey by Crossland Employment Solicitors, 34% of employees have been asked by their bosses to work while being furloughed by their company.

1st July Changes

In a bid to ease our businesses out of our dependencies on the CJRS, the government have offered up a more flexible approach which is great. Companies can decide the hours and shift patterns of their employees – with the government continuing to pay 80% of salaries for the hours they do not work.

6 days in and I still hear that businesses fully expect to take advantage of this, by offering up part time hours to all staff, however advising that “in a sales role, your job never actually has a start and stop time so its business as usual really!!!”

Whilst your employer will be allowed to furlough you for, say, 3 days of the week and ask you to work for two, the pressure that may now be put onto employees to work to tight deadlines could become extreme, with line managers expecting to pack a weeks worth of work into just 2 or 3 days, or will companies simply ask their employees to lie if asked and any work that has leaked into a non working day just simply say, "don't worry, just say that was done on your non-furlough day".

Of course, there are also businesses out there that have taken a fantastic approach to the furlough scheme, with employers supporting their employees by offering this time to catch up on some needed training, or expanding their experience further by training up in another area of the business and this is great, but 34% is still way too high.

Following concerns that this system is being abused, the government have now announced plans to give employers a 30 day window to confess to any furlough fraud, however I do wonder about the long term impact that this sort of employee exploitation will have on a business, assuming that the business survives the next few months, when the government is due to close this scheme altogether. 

Will government actually move to enforce these rules, or will they simply depend on whistle-blowers to hold businesses to account?

How will your business be viewed when this is all over?

Will you come out the other side as an employer of choice, or one that has now built a reputation to steer clear of? We are all suffering in one way or another because of this crisis, both personally and professionally, its how we react to it that will demonstrate the true nature of employers and will be an interesting one to watch out for in the coming months.