In times of economic hardship, employers might need to furlough employees. This allows the employer to reduce its cost of labor by, essentially, "temporarily terminating" their employees.
This is different from firing or laying off the employees. With a furlough, the employees can be brought back to their previously held position after the economic hardship subsides. This terminology may also be relevant for statistics and determining unemployment costs.
With this concept, employers can hope to retain some of their valuable workforces during a time in which they cannot afford to do so, and employees can hope to return to a familiar workplace.
Create a Furloughed status
You need to create a Furloughed status to differentiate these employees from ones who are still Active/Terminated, then, apply that status to the employees.
Log in to Fingercheck as an Administrator.
Click the SETUP tab > System > Employee Statuses.
Click Add.
Enter a Code (for example F) and Description (for example, Furloughed)
Set Employee Status to Inactive for this purpose.
Click Save.
Set an employee's status as Furloughed
Click the EMPLOYEES tab.
Click the employee's name or number to open their profile.
Under Personal, click Position & Rates.
Click the Edit icon (pencil) in the i section.
From the Employee Status field, select F - Furloughed.
Click Save.
Rehire a furloughed employee
When you rehire a furloughed employee, repeat the steps above, except change the Employee Status field to A - Active.
There is a proper process for rehiring furloughed employees. Returning employees will have concerns and questions regarding any changes that may have happened to the company and their position. It is recommended that you send the employee a Furlough Recall Letter. Fingercheck can provide you with information and templates for these kinds of letters through our partnered service, HR Concierge.
If you have already signed up for the HR Concierge go to HUMAN RESOURCE tab > HR Concierge to view their dashboard. If you have not signed up for HR Concierge, the tab will give you directions on how to sign up.
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