Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University. As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation. This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal. At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
The claimant was placed on furlough on 30th March 2020 which she had consented to through signing a document. The claimant received furlough pay covering April and May and during this time no issues arose.
The respondent emailed the claimant on 24th June 2020 ending her furlough with effect from 26th June 2020. For June, the claimant only received £44.47 in pay which were hours worked after 25th June 2020. The respondent’s argument was that the claimant was asked to help with renovations/cleaning and attend training, but she did not do so and that they did not make any claim to the government for furlough pay for the claimant. It must be noted that the renovations/cleaning would constitute work and would not be allowed under the furlough scheme whereas training is allowed. The Tribunal said the refusal to go on training may have been a disciplinary matter but was outside the scope of claimant’s claim. The claimant subsequently resigned on 6th July 2020. She made a claim for unlawful deduction from wages for the month of June, namely the furlough entitlement.
The Tribunal held as follows:
‘Entitlement to furlough pay is not dependent on the employer making a claim to the government for reimbursement. The furloughed employee is entitled to the furlough pay simply because she is furloughed. In essence, the employee agreed to accept 80% of pay in return for not working, and while the scheme was in operation the employer could recover the cost of paying the furloughed employee and was not allowed to ask the employee to work.’
Accordingly, the claimant was entitled to 80% of her pay up until the furlough was ended by the employer on 26th June 2020. Accordingly, an order was made for £662.41 that being 80% of the total pay she would have received for the 25 days of June.
Practical Lessons
The creation of the furlough scheme and its use was always going to lead to some litigation on its remit. The Tribunal has made it very clear that receiving furlough pay is related to being placed on furlough and not contingent upon the employer claiming the reimbursement from the Government. This is a sensible decision and will work to protect employees who have been placed on furlough.
https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/mrs-karamjeet-kaur-gill-v-elegance-beauty-ltd-3201878-slash-2020
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