22 May 2020
There are things you can do if you:
- haven’t had any furlough pay yet but think you should have
- think you’ve been paid the wrong amount
- think your employer is keeping your furlough pay and not giving it to you
It’s a good idea to talk to your employer first to see if you can sort the problem together.
If you’re not happy with what they say or you can’t contact them, you can tell your employer about the problem in a more formal way – called ‘raising a grievance’.
You can also start a process called ‘early conciliation’ if the grievance doesn’t work. This is a way of resolving disputes with your employer through Acas, an independent organisation.
If you haven’t been paid your furlough pay
Your employer should pay you on the same day you’re usually paid.
If your employer says they haven’t had the money from HMRC yet, ask when they applied to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. It should take around 6 working days for HMRC to give the money to your employer after they apply.
If you think you should have been paid by now, ask your employer when they expect to pay you.
You can raise a grievance if:
- you think your employer has the money and it’s taking too long to pay you
- you don’t hear from your employer or they won’t tell you when they applied to the scheme
If you think you’ve been paid the wrong amount
Tell your employer if you think they’ve paid you the wrong amount of furlough pay.
If they say there’s been a mistake, they still need to give you the right amount. They have to do this even if they say they can’t claim the extra money from HMRC.
Ask them to pay you the extra amount you’re owed straight away – you shouldn’t have to wait until your next pay day.
You can raise a grievance if they say they’ve paid you the right amount, but you don’t agree.
Raising a grievance
Follow your employer’s grievance process if they have one – you can still raise a grievance if they don’t.
The first step is to write to them explaining the problem. It’s best to do this in an email. Send it to an email address you know someone is checking.
There are things you should say, depending on what your problem is. You can also check our blogs on Grievances: I have a grievance and How do I write a grievance letter.
If your grievance doesn’t work
You can start a process called ‘early conciliation’ through Acas – an independent organisation that helps sort out employment disputes.
The quickest way to start is to fill in the early conciliation form on the Acas website. Or you can call the Acas early conciliation team on 0300 123 1122.
You’ll need to fill in the early conciliation form within 3 months minus 1 day of either:
- the date when you should have last been paid
- the date your pay was wrong
Early conciliation can last up to 1 month, but it might be quicker than that. If early conciliation doesn’t work, you can go to an employment tribunal. You have 1 month after early conciliation ends to go to a tribunal.