On the surface 'furloughs' seem like a good idea and they are, IF you are a company who completely shuts down, placing all staff/employees on a 'furlough' and do not open or bring back to work any staff/direct employees for each 3 week period.
Sounds straight forward?
Here's the catch!
The Government is instructing the Construction Industry to carry on working. However, some contractors have completely closed and some have not.
Consequently, some sites are running and some are not and the demand for site operatives is constantly changing making it difficult for employers to keep each employee off for a complete 3 week period.
The problem is, if an employer brings an employee off 'furlough' within the 3 week period, it appears that the employer won't be able to claim the 80% they have paid their employees back from the Government.
The other problem is that the Government portal an employer needs to use to claim the 80% pay back, won't be ready until the end of April with no information as to when you will actually receive your payments.
So, with no gurantee that the employer will get back all the monies paid out during each 'furlough' period, how long can employers sustain this before calling a hlat to 'furlough' payments?
Happy Estimating
Mark