How to Help Furloughed Workers

The economic impact seems to have made many companies lay off their employees. If you are a company owner and are facing this problem, chances are you will also do the same. Of course, no company wants to announce furloughs or layoffs to its employees. However, to solve the problem, leave or layoffs can be the right solution. If you are now in a difficult position where you must temporarily lay off your employees, there are a few things you can do to help and support your employees during the furlough.

What is a Furlough?

A furlough is a period during which the Company owners instruct their employees to take unpaid leave due to the unfavorable financial situation of the business. Usually, this furlough applied indefinitely. The purpose of a furlough is to reduce employee salary costs and other company costs and increase cash flow to stabilize the company’s business. Of course, as a company owner, you must really consider carefully before making this decision. When your company is indeed in trouble, then you can wisely announce or order your employees to take unpaid leave with clear reasons. You can explain to your employees that the company’s situation is not good, so this furlough is necessary to stabilize the company’s finances. Besides economic impact, pandemic can also result in companies ordering their employees to take leave. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to order their employees to furlough to prevent the spread of the virus.

Can Furloughed Employees Collect Unemployment Benefits?

As a company owner, when you order your employees to take unpaid leave, your employees can apply for unemployment benefits according to the process established by the state government agencies. Of course, this is at least a relief to the employee. With this rule, any employee on leave can apply for employee benefits. If we remember a few years ago, when the Covid pandemic hit, many employees applied for unemployment benefits. The federal government has widely adopted the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC). This program includes an unemployment benefit of $600 per week provided to all eligible employees. These benefits are in addition to the normal unemployment insurance benefits to which workers are entitled under applicable state law. Need to note that the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments do not affect eligibility for other public benefits, such as CHIP, Medicaid, SNAP, or housing assistance.

Can Employees Work While on Furlough?

According to Raymond Lee, employees on furlough should not perform any work on behalf of the company that ordered them to take unpaid leave. For your information, Raymond Lee is the founder and CEO of Careerminds, a career placement and transition company that supports employees affected by workforce reductions. Raymond Lee said that if employees on unpaid leave use their work cell phones and answer emails on behalf of the company, they will face legal consequences. Therefore, as a company owner, you should be able to ensure that your employees do not do such bad things during their leave. However, when you order your employees to take unpaid leave, your employees have the right to seek temporary employment elsewhere to earn income during their leave from your company. Usually, employees on leave look for part-time or temporary jobs according to their skills or according to the job that is in demand. Although many employees on unpaid leave apply for unemployment benefits, finding temporary work is also their solution to earn income, build their skills, and develop their careers.

Read also: Will Furloughed Employees Be Paid?

The Difference between a Furlough and a Layoff

We all know that a furlough and a layoff are different things. When someone is required to take leave from their job, there may still be hope for re-employment. Meanwhile, layoffs are a very terrible thing for employees, because then they must find a new job again.

When a Company owner orders his employees to go on leave, it does not mean that they are laid off for good. However, they are still employed by the company. Their jobs are still waiting for them and are not transferred to someone else. The Company owner took this action to deal with the Company’s financial challenges. Therefore, the Company owner must order his employees to take unpaid leave. Of course, a furlough is temporary. When the company’s finances stabilize, the employees can return to work.

Layoffs are much more terrifying than furloughs. Layoff is a situation where the owner of the Company must dismiss his employees. This means that the employees can no longer work for the company. They must find another job which certainly will not be easy. Just like leave, layoffs are also usually done because of the company’s financial problems. When employees are laid off, usually the company owner will provide severance pay as compensation and final benefits. When a company announces layoffs, often many employees are dismissed at once. If a company wants to lay off many employees, it must inform the company in advance. As per the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act of 1988, the employers who are planning mass layoffs (50 or more employees) or are closing their company, they must give 60 calendar days’ notice to their employees. If an employer conducts a sudden mass layoff, there are likely to be consequences.

What are Company Owners Legally Required to Do When Furloughing their Employees?

If you are a company owner who is going to instruct your employees to take unpaid leave, then you must know some legal requirements. Of course, you should not ignore this, otherwise you will get consequences. Therefore, as a company owner who will order employees to take leave, you must follow the law. This includes providing necessary information to your employees and complying with state laws.

An editor and senior legal analyst at Mammoth HR and ThinkHR, Kara Govro, said that the obligations created by the law are limited. Company owners or employers must provide information to their employees about the continuation of any health benefits, such as COBRA. In several states, Company owners or employers must also inform their employees of the employee’s right to apply for unemployment benefits. In Georgia, Company owners are required to file for unemployment benefits on behalf of employees.

There are not too many regulations regarding legal requirements of furloughs. However, as a good employer, you should be able to help and support your employees who are on unpaid leave. According to Kara Govro, if the employer seems to be taking a prolonged furlough like a permanent termination, the employer must be upfront with the employee. So, if you are in this situation, you must inform your employee that you have decided not to employ your employee anymore. You should inform your employee of this bitter decision as soon as possible so that your employee can start looking for a new job. To help your employee deal with the difficult situation, you can go the extra mile and offer your employee unemployment insurance.

How To Help and Support Furloughed Employees?

Company financial problems pose a significant threat and challenge to both company owners and employees. When the company is experiencing financial problems, such as a drastic decline in revenue, the company owner may order employees to take unpaid leave. In fact, the company owner can also decide to lay off employees. As a company owner, if you are forced to announce leave to all your employees, it is important that you provide support to your employees. Your decision to announce a furlough is devastating for your employees. You do not know how sad your employees are when they must lose their income. Therefore, you must be able to help your employees who are on furlough. This also aims to boost morale, productivity, and employee retention when they return to your company.

1. Provide a Furlough Package

Company owners or employers can provide a furlough package as wisely as possible. In the furlough package, you as the employer can provide all the information to the employee about why you are asking your employee to take unpaid leave. Also, this is your opportunity to develop clear expectations around communication and support during the leave. A hiring strategist and author of The Human Code of Hiring: The DNA of Recruitment Marketing, Jack Whatley, said that a furlough packet contains information from the Company explaining why the leave is occurring, who will be on furlough, when the furlough begins, and in what form and how often communication with the employee takes place during the furlough period. The furlough packet can also serve as a comprehensive resource with the insights needed to plan. According to Jack Whatley, employers should also write an official letter stating that their employees are being furloughed. It can be useful for furloughed employees such as for rent renegotiation and bill reduction.

2. Provide Unemployment Insurance Application Assistance

To help employees who are being furloughed, employers can dedicate company resources thereby lightening their burden. You can provide unemployment insurance application assistance to your laid-off employees. Of course, assistance with the unemployment insurance application is very useful for your furloughed employees. An HR consultant at Red Clover, Eric Mochnacz, also said to remain knowledgeable about the status of the unemployment insurance system in your state. Your furloughed employees may contact you with various questions. Therefore, you need to understand these changes to provide support to your furloughed employees. In addition, you can also assign a human resources staff member who thoroughly understands state unemployment laws to handle the unemployment benefits application process so that your furloughed employees can get unemployment benefits more quickly.

3. Offer EAP Programs to Your Furloughed Employees

For employees who are on furlough, of course they will be sad and stressed. To show your furloughed employees that you really care about their employees’ mental and emotional health, you can offer them EAP programs. For your information, EAP is a voluntary program provided through the Company that connects employees with free counseling services. The program aims to cover a variety of topics, including emotional well-being, mental health, substance abuse disorders, stress, and family issues. Lee says every medium to large business should have an EAP program. In fact, the EAP program is also important for employees who are not on leave. As a company owner, you need to provide internal support to your employees to be productive and have certain resources to deal with stress.

4. Connect Employees with Local Assistance Programs and Organizations

To help furloughed employees, you can provide your furloughed employees with information about local assistance programs and organizations. For example, you can provide information about food banks. Of course, this can ease the burden on furloughed employees. Kara Govro says that companies that want to help their employees must do the hard work of compiling various resources into one document, web page, or email that is easy for employees to access. In the document, employers should include links to government websites, local charities, and contact information for people at your company who can be contacted to answer employee complaints and questions.

5. Keep In Touch With Furloughed Employees

Even though employees are on unpaid leave, communication between the company owner and the employees on leave must be maintained. According to Kara Govro, an empathetic approach and frequent updates can help reduce employee fears. We can certainly imagine how anxious and worried employees are on furlough. They will wonder when they can return to work so they can earn income to survive. They will also feel anxious about whether they will return to work again or not. In situations like this, the role of the employer is very necessary. To relieve the anxiety of employees who are on leave, you can help them by staying in touch. For example, you could send company updates every week at a set time. Or you can also provide some of the latest information regarding the company’s situation.

Some Tips for Furloughed Employees

For employees who are on furlough, there are some tips that can improve their situation while waiting for the furlough to end. Here are some tips that furloughed employees can do to stay afloat mentally and financially and continue to develop their skills and careers.

• • Apply for unemployment insurance benefits

When an employer announces a furlough, the first thing furloughed employees must do is apply for unemployment insurance benefits. Of course, unemployment insurance benefits are very helpful for furloughed employees, especially those who really don’t have any savings.

• • Attempts to Renegotiate Financial Liabilities Obligations

When employees are on furlough, another important thing they can do is arrange a payment plan with the debtors. This applies if furloughed employees have debts or bills. For example, if a furloughed employee lives in a rental home, then they can contact the landlord to ask for relief and policies. If there are debts or installments, furloughed employees can also negotiate or postpone part of the next payment. Additionally, furloughed employees can also contact their bank to see if it can help them reassess your financial obligations until the furlough period ends.

• • Explore Learning Resources to Develop Creativity and Skills

When employees are on unpaid leave, there are many things they can do besides looking for temporary work, namely exploring learning resources to develop creativity and skills. Usually, companies provide learning resources or platforms that employees can access to improve their skills. If the company does not provide access to a particular learning platform, then furloughed employees can check out free online resources, such as Khan Academy. YouTube can also be a great platform to help develop creativity and skills.

• • Network with Other Professionals

Nowadays, we can all easily network with other professionals. Even in difficult circumstances such as being on furlough, building networks with professionals can still be done. Like during the COVID-19 pandemic several years ago, many employees took unpaid leave. They build networks with professionals. Whatever your field, you can explore the available webinars and conferences easily.

• • Build a Side Gig

To make good use of time off, furloughed employees can keep themselves busy with something they enjoy while potentially making extra money. For example, furloughed employees can create their own handmade products to sell on platforms like Amazon or Etsy. Apart from that, employees who are on unpaid leave can also offer services such as writing articles or editing videos.

The Ways to Bring Furloughed Employees Back to Work

If you are a company owner, it is important for you to take the right steps when your employee’s leave period ends. Here are some things you can do to bring your furloughed employees back to work at your company more comfortably.

• • Treat the return like an Onboarding

When furloughed employees return to work at your company, treat them like new employees. They have gone through many difficulties during their leave. If necessary, you can also provide brief retraining to your employees and provide some information regarding company policy updates.

• • Schedule one-on-one meetings

After your furloughed employees return to work at your company, you should schedule face-to-face meetings with them. During the meeting, you can ask what they did during their unpaid leave. Or, you can also listen to their complaints while on furlough. In addition, this meeting is also useful for building relationships between company owners and employees.

• • Offer flexible scheduling arrangements

When furloughed employees return to work, their personal lives may be difficult. Certainly, it is not easy for them to return to work from a long furlough. To overcome this, you can give your employees the flexibility to return to work in a comfortable way, thereby easing their transition back to your company.

• • Reinforce Company culture

Employees returning from furlough may feel isolated from the rest of the team or outside the company culture. Therefore, action is needed to strengthen company culture. As a company owner, you must be able to look for opportunities to strengthen company culture and reintegrate your employees into the larger team. If necessary, you can also hold team-building events or exercises.