TY - JOUR
T1 - Life during furlough
T2 - Challenges to dignity from a changed employment status
AU - Hamilton, Peter
AU - Harness, Oonagh
AU - Griffin, Martyn
PY - 2022/11/1
Y1 - 2022/11/1
N2 - In response to the COVID‐19 virus, the UK government introduced the Job Retention Scheme in March 2020. The scheme, a novelty in the United Kingdom, provided income support to those furloughed from work. In this paper, we examine how individuals in several occupations and organisations experienced furlough and how they were treated during this enforced period of work absence. Beyond describing their experiences during the furlough, we examine how these experiences threatened and challenged their sense of dignity. Experientially we report on furlough as a time that elicited both delight and despair. The analysis of dignity relates to how treatment based on their employment status rendered many employees marginalised and cast adrift.
AB - In response to the COVID‐19 virus, the UK government introduced the Job Retention Scheme in March 2020. The scheme, a novelty in the United Kingdom, provided income support to those furloughed from work. In this paper, we examine how individuals in several occupations and organisations experienced furlough and how they were treated during this enforced period of work absence. Beyond describing their experiences during the furlough, we examine how these experiences threatened and challenged their sense of dignity. Experientially we report on furlough as a time that elicited both delight and despair. The analysis of dignity relates to how treatment based on their employment status rendered many employees marginalised and cast adrift.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140414222&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/irj.12384
DO - 10.1111/irj.12384
M3 - Article
SN - 0019-8692
VL - 53
SP - 523
EP - 544
JO - Industrial Relations Journal
JF - Industrial Relations Journal
IS - 6
ER -