Furlough & Redundancy – understanding your rights

The Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that currently 1 in 8 workers is furloughed, that’s 3.4 million jobs, at a cost of £2.2 billion to the government.

The furlough scheme is due to be entirely phased out by the end September 2021, and with that we anticipate a rise in the number of redundancies as businesses assess the impact of the pandemic.

It is very likely this will lead to an increase in the amount of cases brought to the Employment Tribunal, particularly for claims such as unfair dismissal.

Furloughed workers have the same redundancy rights as any other employee, including in relation to protection from unfair dismissal (for those with 2 or more years’ service) and discrimination and so it’s vital that employers select and dismiss for redundancy correctly in accordance with the law (that the redundancy is genuine, and a fair procedure has been followed).

Gillian Reid, Head of Employment at Ware & Kay, can offer advice and guidance if you believe you have been unfairly dismissed, or if you believe you may have a case to take to the Employment Tribunal.

Please call York 01904 716000, Wetherby 01937 583210 or Malton 01653 692247, email gillian.reid@warekay.co.uk or complete our online contact form.