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Covid-19 Employment ClaimsCovid-19 Employment Claims for Employees
COVID-19 Related Employment Claims
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on both employers and employees and is likely to continue to have an impact for months to come. Many employers have taken advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough Scheme) in an attempt to preserve jobs through the crisis, but not all employers have used the furlough scheme correctly and many employees have suffered a detriment as a result.
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If you have been furloughed, you have the same employment rights as you did previously.
This includes maternity rights, other parental rights, rights against unfair dismissal and rights to redundancy payments, if you are eventually made redundant. Although the Furlough Scheme created a form of agreed lay off even where there was no contractual lay-off provision, it does not allow employers to compel employees to be furloughed without their consent – or to be discriminated against when being selected for furlough.
In circumstances where your employer has breached your employment rights as a result of the COVID crisis, or for any other reason, you may have grounds to bring claims at the Employment Tribunal and should take appropriate legal advice.
Examples of some of the COVID related grounds which may give rise to a claim at the Employment Tribunal include:
- Your employer failing to reach an agreement with you in writing prior to you being furloughed, and instead furloughing you on reduced pay without consulting you or securing your consent.
- Unfairly selecting you to be furloughed over other employees who remained at work or who were asked to work remotely.
- Not paying you the correct amount of furlough pay, not paying you commission or bonus payments, or not honouring other contractual rights during a period of furlough, such as car allowance payments.
- Not paying you contractual sick pay during a period of self-isolation, if your contract provides for this, and paying you SSP instead.
- Unfairly leaving you on furlough while other employees have been allowed to return to work.
- Making you redundant without consultation.
Have Your Employment Rights Been Breached?
Have you been adversely affected by the impact of COVID-19? Did your employer fail to reach an agreement with you in writing about being furloughed and instead furloughed you on reduced pay without your consent? Were you unfairly selected to be furloughed? Are you unfairly being left on furlough while others have been allowed to return?
If your employer has breached your legal employment rights, you may have a legal claim against them and be entitled to compensation. The most common employment claims to arise during the COVID-19 crisis are likely to be for:
- Unpaid wages (where your wages are reduced or not paid at all)
- Unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal (if you have over two years’ employment, in most cases – there are a few exceptions where you do not need two years’ employment)
- Wrongful dismissal (where you are dismissed in breach of your contract)
- Discrimination
- Redundancy payments
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