During Lockdown 3, many supply educators are hoping that they will be re-furloughed by their agency or umbrella company. However, since the first lockdown almost a year ago, the furlough scheme has altered into the Flexible Furlough Scheme. This was because:

This article will attempt to explain how the new scheme differs from the old furlough scheme and how the amount you will get will be calculated.

Do I Qualify For Furlough?

Qualification for the Flexible Furlough Scheme is extremely uncomplicated:

So, if you are paid any kind of PAYE payment by the agency or umbrella company (furlough payment, holiday pay or wages) between 20^th March and 30^th October 2020 and you are still employed by the company (they haven’t sent you your P45), then you qualify to be furloughed by that company.

Check with the company what type of furlough they are putting you on: there are two types of furlough:

Thus, on Flexible Furlough, which was the scheme intended to get employees back to work, you can be furloughed and work for the same employer. If you are going onto flexible furlough, then you should have to sign (or e-sign) a new agreement.

So with flexible furlough, you can work for scheduled periods and be furloughed for the rest of the time. That may be more difficult with the more random nature of supply working (that you don’t know in advance which days you will be working). Therefore, your agency may use the old furlough scheme rather than flexible furlough.

Furlough is still, as before, employer specific:

You can be furloughed by multiple employers and you can work for one employer and be furloughed by all your other agencies.

How Is Furlough Calculated?

It is thought that the most likely method of calculating that the agencies will use will be an average wages model:

So as an example, if over the last 12 months, an agency has in total paid you £5000 (wages, furlough and holiday pay in total) then:

£5000 ÷ 365 days = £13.70 per day

£13.70 x 0.8 = £10.96 per day furlough

You then multiply the £10.96 by the number of day in total (working and non-working) over the furloughing period to calculate your furlough amount. If you are being paid furlough per week, then your furlough will be:

£10.96 x 7 = £76.71 per week

As you can see, it is not a huge amount of money, so use the Benefits and the Grants section of the Survival Kit [https://thesupplynetwork.org/survival-kit-for-supply-staff-during-lockdown/] to apply for other forms of income.

If you have been employed for less than a year by your agency, then the furlough will be calculated over the period you have worked for your agency.

If you were previously furloughed during Lockdown 1, then:

If you were furloughed before by agency and employed during the 2019/20 tax year:

80% of the higher of:

A)        the wages earned in the corresponding calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020

B)        the average wages payable in the tax year 2019 to 2020

which some members will recognise as the rules to furlough during Lockdown 1.

If you were employed in 2019/20 but not whole year:

If your employee started working for you on or after 6 April 2019, you should not include the days before their employment started in your calculation (i.e. the furlough should be calculated over the time you were with the agency).

Furlough During The Holidays

Should the Lockdown be extended over half term, the Government are clear:

Furlough For Those Isolating Or Critically Vulnerable

If you are isolating due to contracting Covid, then you can be furloughed or placed on SSP, whichever is the greater. It will not affect your eligibility to be furloughed.

Critically Vulnerable supply staff should be more easily furlough and furloughed sooner than regular supply staff, according to this Government advice.

If you contract Covid while on furlough, then:

As you may have noticed, most of these quotes are taken from just three Government documents:

• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#when-furlough
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/calculate-how-much-you-can-claim-using-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Should you not find the information you need here, read through these three Government documents as there is extra information in them not contained in this overview.

Best of luck getting furloughed during Lockdown 3.