Furlough: Labour Law’s Global Response to the Pandemic

Abstract

During the global pandemic, ‘furlough’, a generic term used to describe a temporary lay-off and/or short-time working scheme, subsidized by public means in order to enable job retention, became a widely used phenomenon. But where did this concept come from? And, what legal status do such schemes have? Whilst the world hurried to manage the potential economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic, were existing legal rights and obligations overlooked? To that end, this paper will compare the variant job retention schemes used for the furloughing of workers. Arguably, such temporary lay-offs/short-time working, ‘furlough’ schemes have both social and economic impact at local, regional and national levels. Within such a contemporary debate, this paper will therefore comparatively evaluate the ‘furlough’ concept and navigate through the variant furlough impact typology. Overall, the paper will review how furlough schemes enabled a supervening employment policy intervention to either reshape the existing labour law measures or to emphasize existing rights and/or entitlements with no juridical effect. Regardless of its impact and legal status, ‘furlough’ has been heralded as labour law’s response to the global pandemic.