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14
May 2020
Business landscape could change dramatically after 'honeymoon period' of furlough scheme
Businesses preparing to return to work after the coronavirus lockdown could be doing so in completely different ways - and employment levels in the Harrogate district could take a hit.
Mike Patterson, head of employment law at Berwins, said many businesses may have found the enforced change actually suits them and they will keep some of the new ways of working even after lockdown ends.
However, he said there are still many tough weeks ahead for businesses, especially as the furlough scheme changes from August.
"Initially, we were dealing with lots of queries about furloughing. We're now starting to get into post-lockdown, getting business back up and running. A lot of people were waiting for Boris's roadmap to see the timetable to get people back to work."
A series of announcements, changes and retractions in advice since the beginning of the crisis, have made it harder for lawyers, accountants and others to keep up with the latest situation in order to advise their clients, Mr Patterson said. The furlough regulations, for example, were produced in one large document and, when the scheme was tweaked, the document was updated but no information was published about what had been changed, leaving advisors to read it repeatedly to find the updates.
The way the announcements were made this week also gave some businesses and employees hardly any notice, from Sunday evening, that they could be expected back at work the following day. Mr Patterson added:
Now, many businesses are looking at how they can resume more normal working in the coming weeks and months. The extension of the furlough scheme and the possibility of bringing staff back part-time while the economy gets moving again has been met with relief.
"Speaking to a few businesses and seeing what people are doing, that's quite a welcome move. Businesses are nervous of this cliff edge the chancellor keeps speaking about. It's not going to be back to normal over night, it's going to take time. It helps to have flexibility and phased returns."
Physical presence
The practical aspects of returning to work are at the top of business owners' lists of priorities, he said. Enabling social distancing and other aspects of health and safety in workplaces all have to be considered, but businesses are also looking at whether returning to previous operations is even necessary or desirable.
For some businesses, there has been very little change to how they work. For others, whether changing the services they offer or allowing greater flexibility as parents juggle working hours with childcare, it has been a period of operating differently.
Mr Patterson said the return to work will have to have an element of flexibility too, for both employers and employees, as different sectors return to trading at different speeds.
In the long term, Mr Patterson said it is inevitable some businesses will be forced to make cuts:
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