Life during lockdown

There needs to be a lockdown on ALL inessential work. The sharper the lockdown the quicker the virus is defeated. Trying to manage it will mean months and months and months of restrictions. Essential workers start and stop times should be staggered to avoid crowds at rush hour. Could City Hall co-ordinate?

I was employed by a company for 2 months. They laid me off citing Covid and I was given 2 months' notice. 
 

That night the Government Furlough scheme was announced. My company refused to put me on this scheme despite my heartfelt request and would not even give a valid reason. 

When I got paid, they only paid me 2 weeks' notice and cited the 2 months' notice as a "typo".

I have had sleepless nights. I live on my own so my mortgage and bills are quite significant. As I was made redundant just past half way through the month, I only have one wage packet   I also had sick deducted when I was off in February (with what I think was the Coronavirus). 

As I have been treated so appallingly, I am re-evaluating my life. I want to give back to society. I know there are so people far worse off and I have seen the true colours of such a cut-throat organisation

I came to UK 6 months ago  and I am living with my brother.  Very hardly I got a part time job. But I  worried .I usually got sickness very quickly. Also my medication is very difficult because I am allergic to so many medicines.  My family is not here.  So I am staying at home. I am eagerly waiting for go to work. 

I'm a self employed & with this Covid19 situation my income is down to 0. This crisis hit everyone hard unexpectedly & now I'm struggling to pay my credit card interest. My Barclaycard is not helping by still charging interest into my card account. With the help of Universal Credit, it's only enough to pay my rent & the essentials to keep myself alive. The bank is not helping with the debt instead making it worst by imposing credit card interest that I can't effort to pay now. Barclays now show how greedy a bank can be during this crisis. They are simply financial Mafia with the license. 

Ok so what about people who can't work due to immigration Restriction .

and now they have children to feed and pay rent and bills.

I was a self employed Handyman (Sole trader) there is no scheme or provisions for anyone in the same situation as myself . Jobs stopped dues to Lock Down and even when lifted it may take a long time possible 12 months plus to get this work back. Have had to go onto Universal credit which i think will just give me enough for food after bills paid. they do not expect any income but once Lock down is lifted it will go back to normal which would mean having an income of just over £1,400 per month strangely if that was my income i would not need to be on universal credit. The government took the work away due to lock down and there should be a minimum income for all affected not just large companies or SME's. also for at least 12 months after lock down then no income per month should be expected plus any work carried out 1/3 goes towards paying back universal credit not 2/3 as is the case right now I know this as one job i carried out after being on Universal credit which i took to pay off debts left me out of pocket due to them taking 2/3 of this income to pay back money from universal credit. I had been in business 6.5 years and still would be if there was no lock down plus would have money in the bank from three jobs that were to be carried out but could not be due to lock down.

Deliver a comprehensive campaign to inform workers about their employment rights and the options available to them.

Ensure that the incomes of workers on zero-hours and agency contracts are also protected.

Make non-repayable Universal Credit advance payments available from day one and suspend sanctions and conditionality for all claimants. 

I just have been made redundant from Debenhams without notice just by a phone call only 1 week before payday and telling me I won’t be paid this month for any of my wages and that I have to apply to government which means 6 weeks period. If furlough scheme was established to protect employees and employers how government allow this situations?. How am I supposed to live 6 weeks without income? Who is fighting for employees rights?

Good morning all.

I've been working as an agency contractor for the last 3 years.

The agencies that I'm working with sent me emails asking for my authorization to be included in the furlough scheme.

However, until the current date I'd had no money coming from any of them.

Please, I need some advice regarding this issue.

It will be very appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Scarlett Ray.

My concern is since we have coronavirus out break,hospitals have cancelled all appointments,and follow ups doctor's talk to you other the phone. My point is  just as many people can die in there homes due to neglect because they can't see a doctor, or go to there follow up.So basically people lives are being compromised.

My employer, a charity, has been forced to cut staff hours considerably.  We are mainly public sector funded but because of timing near the end of the financial year we were just renegotiating several contracts that have been postponed for the time being as we can't deliver the work (which is events focused) during lockdown.  We are not really covered by the furlough scheme as we are mainly publicly funded and we have a small team all of whom need to do some work still on our remaining contract as we all have different expertise and roles. There needs to be more flexibility in the Government schemes to recognise reduced hours/salaries due to loss of income as well as situations where people can be furloughed and stop all work. Something needs to be done to help freelancers aswell. I think the problems are going to go on for much longer than 30th June as it takes time to build up work again and the economy and public sector are going to be in a bad way.  Please continue to argue for an extension to the EU transition period and against No Deal too!    

I agree with Noraoo, mostly. The economist's concept of rent is broader than just property. The market rental value for, say, a pub in central London, is zero (or even negative) right now.

Rather than boosting incomes, the government should act to largely suspend outgoings when people and businesses can't operate. Rent could be reduced to maintenance costs, likewise all kinds of interest on pre-existing loans; perhaps the government could help by taking up a part of the default risk. This might be conditional on a business/person actually decreasing its turnover.

This is not as bad for those receiving rents as it at first seems: they, more than most, are dependent on the economy continuing to thrive. A collapse of the economy, whether directly from company failure or indirectly through the slow strangulation of excessive government debt, will drive rents down more than it decreases incomes.

The furlough scheme needs to be in place for the long term, not just a couple of months.  The company I work for was profitable before Covid-19 but work is slowing down (a large proportion of our work is for the government, which we bid for through public procurement).  This means that the impact won't be immediate but 6+ months from now.  
My partner is an architect and his company has already run into losses due to Covid-19.  He will only have a job when the economy is strong and people are building.  It could take months or even years before building activity picks up in London (and globally) again.  This on top of Brexit will kill off a huge chunk of the architecture/design work in London.  
The furlough scheme must stay open for at least a year to give industry time to recover. Perhaps the government should allow staff to work a proportion of the time for a proportion of their income and top it up via furlough. 
 

I think the Mayor of London should have backed a total suspension of rent until the end of lockdown. Those in the lowest-paying contract jobs, new starters and freelancers are disproportionally affected by having to pay a London rent in these circumstances. Think of all the creative industries and hospitality that make our city great.

It would also mean large savings for the government in terms of support since people are starving in order to feed their landlords. I am a freelancer and the thought I will have to use the government help (which should be paying for my food) to cover my rent quite frankly makes my blood boil. That is taxpayers' money.

My landlord should not have had the right to refuse rent suspension. It's entirely political.

My wife and I are both freelance, and like many in our industry, will not be working for many months to come. We are not covered by any government assistance specific to the pandemic, despite 20 years of self-assessment returns, so our total family income (for three people) is below £100 per week, i.e. Job Seekers Allowance plus Child Benefit. The Job Retention Scheme and self-employed equivalent are great for those that tick the boxes, but there are thousands excluded by quirks of their work pattern or individual circumstances. A universal basic income, or a system based on previous tax returns (rather than specific dates and/or voluntary furloughing by employers) would have been much fairer.

I’m a paediatric bank nurse. As children’s services have shut down, and redeployed staff cover shortfalls, my work has just stopped. Even as a zero hours worker I should be covered for 80% wages from HMRC, but the hospitals won’t apply for it, not wanting to draw attention to a surplus of particular staff. I can’t apply directly. I have totally lost my income.

A proper living wage in the future for all people.

There is no option on the survey for self-employed, freelancers or contractors.  The closest option for me was unemployed, both before and now.  I am a freelancer and lost all my work soon after lockdown.  There are large numbers of working people in London who are not 'employed' and the survey needs to include them in order to collect valid information.

Many of the problems in the NHS wouldn't have occurred if staff had been given a decent wage based on their skills, bearing in mind that a nurse now needs a degree. By paying staff a decent wage the need for expensive agency staff (who are ex NHS staff who have had their training paid for by the NHS or existing NHS staff having to work additional shifts to pay their bills) wouldn't be needed as much and will actually save the NHS money. 

Another problem is that many 'managers' in the NHS are nursing staff who have been promoted and are not trained in management, so their management of holidays, rotas, etc., are poorly organised.

The majority of people are complying with the restrictions but there are some that aren't mainly, from my experience, being teenagers meeting together and some of the elderly doing the same. Also many that don't usually use the parks and walks are doing so to get out of their houses but are letting their dogs mess everywhere (they probably normally just send their dogs into their gardens) and cycling at speed without taking care of people on foot.

I think one benefit that will come from the virus is a greater appreciation of the people we actually need day to day and, hopefully, as a result we will remember that afterwards.