My quick tip today about avoiding future disputes is really about the capacity that employees have.
I’m picking up a few rumblings from employees who have not been furloughed. They are still at work, but are actually picking up tasks of employees that are furloughed. Obviously that's creating an issue for individuals who might not feel at the moment that they want to raise the issue with their employers because they're worried about their jobs - understandably. But I think from an employer's perspective I really would check this out by making sure that we're not asking current employees, who are carrying on their jobs, being paid 100% of their salary (obviously), that we're not asking them to do the tasks of those employees that are furloughed, and are obviously not carrying out those tasks but are receiving 80% of their pay.
The reason being that employees at the moment might feel that they don't really want to raise the issue because they are worried about their jobs, but that might come out over the next few months - if not years. Obviously it’s unfair on those employees who are being asked to do the tasks that are theoretically redundant.
I can see a number of these issues coming up, so I think for every employer it's just worth asking that question. Are we furloughing the people whose tasks are genuinely redundant at the moment, and are we making sure that we're not overburdening the employees that are remaining in work
with the tasks of those people who are furloughed, because that will become an issue in the coming months and years.
I hope that helps and please get in contact if you need more information about this or workplace mediation.
