Legal Update

Giving clarity to dealers after confusing messages from the government

Flexible furlough, redundancy plus other issues addressed by Lawgistics.

Confusion is still rife following the government’s announcement about the £1,000 furlough bonus – and it’s even got legal experts scratching their heads!

Rishi Sunak announced the move in his summer statement, as reported by Car Dealer, saying that businesses bringing back furloughed staff would be paid a £1,000 bonus per employee. Appearing on Car Dealer Live on July 13, Lawgistics legal adviser Nona Bowkis was asked by host James Batchelor what it meant for dealers.

‘As ever, we don’t really know yet. It’s the headlines. People will walk back from furlough and remain in employment through until January. Employers are going to get a £1,000 “Brucie bonus” for doing that [but] we don’t know if that will include people that are already back from furlough or people that are brought back in October when the furlough scheme comes to an end.

‘They’ve said that it will be towards the end of July before we get any details. But it’s interesting that there are already some companies saying “We don’t want this”, because I think generally people have thought “We don’t see the point of this. We don’t really see the benefit.” ‘Maybe now the government has seen the reaction wasn’t particularly positive they will just change that.’

As she said: ‘Would you keep someone on because you’re going to get a thousand pounds in January when you’ve got to pay them through November, December and January?’

Joining her on the show was fellow Lawgistics legal adviser Kiril Moskovchuk, who answered other queries that were put forward.

Notice pay and redundancy

BOSSES must distinguish between notice pay and payment in lieu of notice, the latter of which can’t be claimed via furlough.

Redundancy pay must be at the pre-furlough rate for the last 12 weeks they were working and can’t come out of furlough either, it must be from company funds. A calculator to work out what to pay is on the gov.uk website. People employed for under two years aren’t entitled to redundancy pay.

Going out on test drives

ACCOMPANIED test drives are allowed once again and Lawgistics is recommending that face masks should be worn – but definitely not face shields, in case the airbag goes off.

It’s down to the individual sales staff member to decide if they want to wear a face covering or not. Having the window open where possible is recommended, but the use of recirculated air is a no-no.

Thorough cleaning after a test drive is also a necessity.

Face coverings in retail settings

CUSTOMERS have had to wear face coverings in shops since July 10 in Scotland and must do so from July 24 in England, although some people are exempt from it.

Employees aren’t expected to enforce it – that’ll be down to the police. The government advises staff to wear face masks, but it isn’t mandatory.

This panel was written following the Car Dealer Live broadcast, following new rules for England

Flexible furlough – how different is it?

KIRIL Moskovchuk clarified that any work done under the flexible furlough scheme had to be paid at the national minimum wage level, so if the basic pay falls below that, the employer has to top it up to at least the national minimum.

Annual leave rules under flexible furlough hadn’t changed much, though, with leave still accruing normally. The only difference is that under flexible furlough, annual leave should be counted as furlough hours.

What if someone refuses to return?

NONA Bowkis was unequivocal about this, saying: ‘At the end of the day you’re employed, that’s your contract, and you’ve got to work.’

She said there may have been reasons earlier, such as childcare, but they weren’t valid now. If someone continued to refuse to return, it could mean disciplinary action – or having to be asked if they were leaving. But she advised bosses to talk to Lawgistics first if it got to that stage.

Can dealers carry on in local lockdowns?

ALTHOUGH Leicester’s is now being eased, once again there had been confusion at the outset from the government, which had said that all nonessential retail had to shut from June 30. The leicester.gov.uk website, in fact, clearly states that car showrooms could continue to operate.

‘Each lockdown would probably have slightly different rules,’ said Bowkis. ‘The devil is in the detail as with everything in law really.’