Furloughed employees’ new right to full redundancy pay

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has today (July 30) announced the new law will come into force tomorrow (July 31).

Throughout the pandemic, the government has urged businesses to do right by their employees and pay those being made redundant based on their normal wage, rather than their furlough pay, which is often less.

The government said the majority of businesses have done so, however, there are a minority who have not. Therefore, it will bring in legislation to protect workers and ensure all furloughed employees who are being made redundant receive their full entitlement.

Employees with more than two years’ continuous service who are made redundant are usually entitled to a statutory redundancy payment that is based on length of service, age and pay, up to a statutory maximum.

This new legislation will ensure that employees who are furloughed receive statutory redundancy pay based on their normal wages, rather than a reduced furlough rate.

These changes will also apply to Statutory Notice Pay, which is where employees must be given a notice period before their employment ends, varying from at least one week’s notice up to 12 weeks’ notice, depending on how long they have worked for their employer.

During this notice period, employees must be paid. This legislation will also ensure that notice pay is based on normal wages rather than their wages under the CJRS.

Other changes coming into force will ensure basic awards for unfair dismissal cases are based on full pay rather than wages under the CJRS.

Business secretary Alok Sharma said: “We urge employers to do everything they can to avoid making redundancies, but where this is unavoidable it is important that employees receive the payments they are rightly entitled to.

“New laws coming into force will ensure furloughed workers are not short-changed if they are ever made redundant – providing some reassurance for workers and their families during this challenging time.”