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What are the holiday rules for someone on Flexible Furlough?

Employees continue to accrue leave during furlough (whether they are on full furlough or flexible furlough) and can take leave during periods of Flexible Furlough (so long as you top the grant up to full pay for any days taken as holiday).

Government guidance has been updated to state that “Employees should not be placed on furlough for a period simply because they are on holiday for that period.” If a period of furlough happens to coincide with an employee’s holiday then you should ensure that there are business grounds to support furlough being used in that instance so that it isn’t just being used as a means to fund holiday utilisation.

Related FAQs

Are the Courts still open and operating?

Yes, but the Courts have been temporarily restructured into three categories:

  1. Open courts (open for business including vital in person hearings)
  2. Staffed courts (for video and telephone hearings)
  3. Suspended courts (no hearings of any kind)

These changes have been effective from Monday 30 March 2020.

BSA 2022 states that RP’s will have greater powers (to encourage residents to provide access and to fulfill their duties). What are these powers and when are they expected?

Residents will be obliged to:

  • Not act in a way that creates a significant risk of a building safety risk materialising
  • Not interfere with building safety equipment in the common parts
  • Comply with an Accountable Person’s request for information in relation to the assessment and management of building safety risks.

The Accountable Person then has powers in relation to these duties, including:

  • Issuing a contravention notice, requiring a resident to pay for replacement or repair of safety equipment which they have interfered with
  • Applying for court orders in certain situations
  • Requesting access at a reasonable time (in writing with at least 48 hours’ notice) to a resident’s property for the purposes of assessing or managing building safety risks, or checking compliance with the resident’s duties as above.

Secondary legislation is still awaited to bring these provisions into force, so the timing is unknown, but it will likely be within the next 12 months in line with the anticipated timetable for the remainder of the Act.

Does Force Majeure apply to the leasing of commercial property?

Some commercial tenants have queried whether the current situation is a force majeure which may allow it to terminate the lease. Clauses which allow a party to terminate a lease for a force majeure event or, to put it another way, an “act of God”, are however extremely rare in modern commercial leases. Even if there is such a provision in your lease, it would need to be drafted to apply to an outbreak of disease.

What was the eligibility criteria for the Government’s self-employment income support scheme?

You will be eligible if you are a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and you:

  • have trading profits of up to £50,000
  • earn the majority of your income from self-employment
  • have submitted a Tax Return for 2019
  • have traded in the tax year 2019/20
  • are trading when you apply for a grant, or would be except for Covid-19
  • intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020/2021
  • have lost trading/partnership profits due to Covid-19

 

What is happening with public transport?

Government guidance is that public transport should be avoided wherever possible. Transport providers will be expected to follow government guidance to make their services more COVID-19 secure.