Reply to: Furlough pay

[Wary]

So basically its been a giant waste of time and effort to even get furloughed. It really affected my mental health and I'm now at a stage of resigning from parasol and moving on with my life.

Any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Will

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[lucyclarityumbrella]

The assignment that they eventually deemed eligible was from the 16th of March running to the 20th of April. Therefore they have calculated my furlough pay for these dates but terminated the furlough pay beyond that.

First of all furloughing is a decision that is made by the employer, there is no requirement / obligati to furlough someone.

Does this seem correct for Parasol to limit the payment to the active assignment date and not beyond that?

Again an employers decision, morally probably not, but from a business perspective it is limiting their costs.

Additionally as I had an outstanding invoice get paid the same time as the furlough, the payment amount has been reduced to basically nothing. Parasol saying the following:"You had also received a salary payment within this tax month, due to this your payments were recalculated based on the total taxable pay processed."

If you have been paid within that tax period, then they are correct, the furlough would only be allowable for the period that you were not working. For umbrella companies, this becomes a headache as funds are normally paid in the period after the work has been completed, and although industry groups have been asking for answers, it has not been forthcoming from the government, which helps neither those businesses or their contractors unfortunately.

[Will111]

[QUOTE=ben555;2772930]I have been furloughed by Parasol!

Have you received furlough pay for your assignment date or beyond that, in line with the government dates?

[Will111]

Parasol Furlough

Hi, I am hoping people can give me some advice on my situation.

Firstly I am with Parasol and after countless emails, letters, and phone calls I was furloughed. I work with multiple clients on rolling contracts, as im sure most of you do.

The assignment that they eventually deemed eligible was from the 16th of March running to the 20th of April.
Therefore they have calculated my furlough pay for these dates but terminated the furlough pay beyond that. Speaking to HRMC I am eligible for furlough payments till July.
This makes no sense as it defeats the point of the scheme? There is no work and I can't pay my bills etc.

Does this seem correct for Parasol to limit the payment to the active assignment date and not beyond that?

Additionally as I had an outstanding invoice get paid the same time as the furlough, the payment amount has been reduced to basically nothing.
Parasol saying the following:
"You had also received a salary payment within this tax month, due to this your payments were recalculated based on the total taxable pay processed."

So basically its been a giant waste of time and effort to even get furloughed. It really affected my mental health and I'm now at a stage of resigning from parasol and moving on with my life.

Any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Will

[Eatapeach]

I was meant to be paid my Furlough yesterday from Trafalgar contractor solutions. They have unfortunately hopeless in dealing with this. Received nothing yesterday. They have conveniently turned their phones off and won’t reply to emails but will send out company wide impersonal updates via email. It feels as if they are dragging their heels and hiding, hoping it’ll go away.

Same here - seems to be the same hope it goes away approach with Mango/Crest.

Since the start of May it's been "in discussion with HMRC". They finally submitted me as a furloughed employee by their deadline of May 12th. The first day of furlough was May 4th.

I asked for an update - nothing.

I rang two weeks ago - "yes we will pay you on the 22nd or the 29th of May". They promised to send me an email confirming my eligibility for furlough, nothing arrived.

Rang again today, "yes" they said "you are in the scheme". They claimed they were busy paying March and April furlough payments, and would get to the May ones "next week".

Again I asked for confirmation in writing, but have received nothing.

What I cannot understand is why they are playing catch up with March and April payments. Do HMRC just send them a bucket of cash and leave them to distribute as they see fit? I assumed as payroll professionals it would be a lot more certain than this.

I'll send an email to APSCO and FCSA - not that I expect that to do anything.

[BBJ10]

I was meant to be paid my Furlough yesterday from Trafalgar contractor solutions. They have unfortunately hopeless in dealing with this. Received nothing yesterday. They have conveniently turned their phones off and won’t reply to emails but will send out company wide impersonal updates via email. It feels as if they are dragging their heels and hiding, hoping it’ll go away.

[McBhardwaj]

Oh for sure.

According to HMRC anyone who is paying PAYE, has a UK bank account and was on the books before the required date is eligible. It's quite simple. But Parasol have unfortunately created their own criteria.

I understand that every organisation has to follow some rules and regulations however it is equally important for organisation to put their senior teams work day and night to make decisions, which impact human life. Parasol surely failed here, when other Umbrella companies are putting workers (Under their PAYE scheme) on government paid furlough scheme.

Not sure if Parasol is waiting for Sunak to give them a ring and clear the simple wording which Government has published. I hope Mr Parasol CEO can imagine if he would have been in the same situation....have no money coming in....bills to pay, no job, someone in the family died due to COVID-19, then what would have been his reaction.

[ben555]

I have been furloughed by Parasol!

I barely believe it. I emailed them to complain about their terrible comms and then they confirmed that my furlough was going through and I need to accept a change to my contract of employment.

I could see no mention of this on the employee portal but after 20 minutes trying to get through on the phone I spotted a tiny button that said "View variation of contract" or something similar. I had to click on that and accept a change in terms but then heard nothing after submitting that form.

I am very suspicious of the way they are failing to communicate properly. Previous they advised me to resign and claim benefits. I wonder if their hope is that a lot of people will resign to save them the bother of furloughing.

[Conwellski]

I'd imagine it still leaves a chunk of people that can't claim and a group of people in a grey area where they brolly and their opinion on whether it's directly covd related will have to argue it out.

Oh for sure.

According to HMRC anyone who is paying PAYE, has a UK bank account and was on the books before the required date is eligible. It's quite simple. But Parasol have unfortunately created their own criteria.

[northernladuk]

Wow, I'm surprised this was not sent in an email today otherwise I would not have known, so thank you for sharing. This is great news! Hopefully everyone can get letters from their agency. Although i'm expecting agencies won't confirm anything unless confirmation comes from the end client as well.

Fingers crossed from us all!

Please update on here if you receive furlough payments.

I'd imagine it still leaves a chunk of people that can't claim and a group of people in a grey area where they brolly and their opinion on whether it's directly covd related will have to argue it out.

[Conwellski]

Read today's update here: Employee Furlough Confirmation: A note from our CEO | Parasol

Wow, I'm surprised this was not sent in an email today otherwise I would not have known, so thank you for sharing. This is great news! Hopefully everyone can get letters from their agency. Although i'm expecting agencies won't confirm anything unless confirmation comes from the end client as well.

Fingers crossed from us all!

Please update on here if you receive furlough payments.

[ben555]

Read today's update here: Employee Furlough Confirmation: A note from our CEO | Parasol

[Eatapeach]

Me!

Unfortunately I was on a rolling contract with my end client which was in the sporting industry. The contract wasn't renewed on the parasol portal due to all sporting events being cancelled. I had a letter from my end client and my agency that the contract would have been extended to the end of May had it not been for Covid.

But Parasol are still staying that I'm illegible because on the portal it shows my contract coming to a natural end, despite the letter from my end client and agency.

It's super upsetting and I don't see how they can just disregard us like this. Especially employees that have been on the books for over 3 years with constant work.

They have issued an email announcement today that they are raising this with the HMRC, which gives me some hope. But I don't understand why some umbrellas are willing to furlough with confirmation letters and Parasol isn't?

HMRC made the guidance clear - Parasol can only lose reputation by this

If you’re on a fixed term contract
If you were on a fixed term contract your employer can re-employ, furlough and claim for you if your contract expired after either:

• 28 February 2020 and an RTI payment submission for you was notified to HMRC on or before 28 February 2020
• 19 March 2020 and an RTI payment submission for you was notified to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020

If your fixed term contract has not already expired, your employer can extend or renew it. Your employer can claim for you if an RTI payment submission for you was notified to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020.

Check if your employer can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - GOV.UK

[Conwellski]

Me!

Unfortunately I was on a rolling contract with my end client which was in the sporting industry. The contract wasn't renewed on the parasol portal due to all sporting events being cancelled. I had a letter from my end client and my agency that the contract would have been extended to the end of May had it not been for Covid.

But Parasol are still staying that I'm illegible because on the portal it shows my contract coming to a natural end, despite the letter from my end client and agency.

It's super upsetting and I don't see how they can just disregard us like this. Especially employees that have been on the books for over 3 years with constant work.

They have issued an email announcement today that they are raising this with the HMRC, which gives me some hope. But I don't understand why some umbrellas are willing to furlough with confirmation letters and Parasol isn't?

[lucyclarityumbrella]

I'm not sure there is anything you can do to take this "further" sorry to say. An employer does not have to furlough anyone, it is at their discretion unfortunately. It has to be an agreement between both the employer and employee, so if one party does not agree then furlough does not have to take place.