How do we select staff to take back off the furlough scheme?

[Nelson 0]

We have furloughed all of our staff. When we come to re-open I can envisage a position whereby we would not want to take back everyone on day one - each of our dealerships may not need 6 technicians and 8 sales people immediately, so it would probably make sense to start with half of these people and gradually bring more back on board as and when customer demand dictates that we have sufficient work for them. 

But how do we go about selecting the staff that we bring back immediately? The obvious solution for us as the dealer is to bring back the best sales people and the most knowledgeable and efficient technicians first - but is that allowed? If we were making people redundant we would have to go through a measurable selection process - do we have to do the same when we take staff off the furlough scheme, or can we just select the ones that we want and take them back in whatever order we choose?

 Any thoughts or professional advice welcome! 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Nelson
Typo!

[LINGsCARS 24]

Seems an ideal opportunity to weed out any staff you don't want to keep.

You could choose based on sex, colour, religion, ability, body odour... anything goes really. May be ideal for misogynist or racist employers. You might get away with retaining people on just 80% of their previous salary? Or weaker terms? Or force less hours? Who knows... 

Or does the employee get to question it? I mean, will you end up in a tribunal because you didn't offer a fair and transparent process in demonstrating who you take off furlough first? Do you need to fully document your rationale?

Or will the Government force furlough to end across the board (so you will be forced into a broad decision concerning all staff)? Or will they claim back furlough from the company, for people who get bulletted? Like a clawback.

God knows at the moment.

Pragmatically, I agree... you would go with the strongest workers and protect the most sensible number of jobs. But mass redundancies or not taking backs... may play very badly on public media. Cash is king though, you can only do what you can do.

Edited April 16, 2020 by LINGsCARS

[the old novice 13]

My intention would be to contact all staff members to see who wants to return to work (subject to not getting a return to business as normal date from the government).If all employees wish to return on the same day i will then create a skills matrix that would include skills,length of service,adaptability etc etc .Just in case any body gets grumpy and harbours thoughts about a constructive dismissal case.

I can foresee that getting guys back to work for only a perceived 20% increase in pay is going to interesting.

[metcars 394]

4 minutes ago, the old novice said:

My intention would be to contact all staff members to see who wants to return to work (subject to not getting a return to business as normal date from the government).If all employees wish to return on the same day i will then create a skills matrix that would include skills,length of service,adaptability etc etc .Just in case any body gets grumpy and harbours thoughts about a constructive dismissal case.

I can foresee that getting guys back to work for only a perceived 20% increase in pay is going to interesting.

I suppose many will be concerned about how safe it really is out there? 

[Nelson 0]

15 minutes ago, the old novice said:

My intention would be to contact all staff members to see who wants to return to work (subject to not getting a return to business as normal date from the government).If all employees wish to return on the same day i will then create a skills matrix that would include skills,length of service,adaptability etc etc .Just in case any body gets grumpy and harbours thoughts about a constructive dismissal case.

I can foresee that getting guys back to work for only a perceived 20% increase in pay is going to interesting.

I guess it's only a 20% increase for someone not earning more than £2500 per month in normal times - maybe we pay too much but our techs and sales people are all earning way more than that. The next point may be very relevant though - will they actually feel safe enough to come back, and how do we make them feel safe? I can't see how it's possible to do an accompanied test drive whilst social distancing....

[Paul C 75]

Given the choice of being furloughed with last year's commission; or back selling cars over the internet/phone in a market which is about 5% of its normal size, there's a strong financial reason NOT to be "the first back". But then they may appreciate doing something irrespective of the money.

Realistically, there's only three ways you can do it: 1) voluntary/by agreement amongst 2) length of service, 3) draw up a skills matrix and evaluate who would be best or most suitable.

[Nelson 0]

22 minutes ago, Paul C said:

Given the choice of being furloughed with last year's commission; or back selling cars over the internet/phone in a market which is about 5% of its normal size, there's a strong financial reason NOT to be "the first back". But then they may appreciate doing something irrespective of the money.

Realistically, there's only three ways you can do it: 1) voluntary/by agreement amongst 2) length of service, 3) draw up a skills matrix and evaluate who would be best or most suitable.

Of course that's if it's decided we can actually claim commission on the furlough scheme for them  in light of the latest clarification from HMRC...

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/discretionary-commission-payments-clause-sees-furloughed-sales-staff-lose/190088

[Paul C 75]

7 minutes ago, Nelson said:

Of course that's if it's decided we can actually claim commission on the furlough scheme for them  in light of the latest clarification from HMRC...

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/discretionary-commission-payments-clause-sees-furloughed-sales-staff-lose/190088

Good point! I've lost count, is it 4 times now, they've altered the relevant advice quite significantly? It sure has all the hallmarks of a scheme drawn up in a hurry.

[poor-trader 15]

Remember the Government Furlough scheme only runs to 31/5/20 as it stands so, on the assumption no one will be re-opening to mid-May anyway you only really have about 2-3 weeks before you have to make the decision whether to bring people back onto the payroll or let them go anyway.

[James Baggott 227]

Maybe one to ask the experts today on Car Dealer Live - join me here at midday:

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/car-dealer-live-16-uhy-hacker-young/190179