The decision was made to furlough Oxford City Council staff who, because of the effects of Covid-19, were unable to fulfil their usual roles and could not, immediately, be redeployed to other Council work. This decision immediately impacts 20 staff for an initial period of three weeks and may impact further staff members in due course.

The decision was informed by the Government’s jobs protection scheme. This enables people to be laid off, on a temporary basis, because of the exceptional circumstances caused by Covid-19 and who are not among those being  redeployed into areas where the Council is seeing increased activity such as Revenues and Benefits, the Contact Centre, and the new Locality Resource Hubs.

Furloughing is designed to protect jobs by avoiding the need for redundancy through Government support of £80% of an employee’s salary up to £2,500 a month. The Council intends to make up the difference, so providing full income to those affected. 

The decision follows careful consideration of the Council’s  need to continue delivering essential services, redeployment to service the new areas of demand, and a prudent approach to resilience of the organisation. 

Not to furlough staff who would otherwise, through no fault of their own, not be able to work effectively. This is not the preferred option because the Council would continue to pay the full salaries of staff who are unable to work at a time when the Council’s finances are Not to furlough staff who would otherwise, through no fault of their own, not be able to work effectively. This is not the preferred option because the Council would continue to pay the full salaries of staff who are unable to work at a time when the Council’s finances are under exceptional pressure due to the impacts of the pandemic on key revenue streams such as Business Rates and car parking income.exceptional pressure due to the impacts of the pandemic on key revenue streams such as Business Rates and car parking income.