Who has an AC who’s lost a job due to virus?

My daughter was let go on the first day of lockdown, she was 3 weeks short of 2 years service. She had been on a phased return to work after suffering a stroke 18mths ago. Now she is really struggling to pay rent and bills.

Sadly yes.
Middle D works in the theatre and has had all her 2020 productions cancelled and sees no likelihood of any offers before 2021 if then if the theatre ever recovers. She has also not been paid the final third of her fee for her last contract at Dutch National Opera - 18 months work. Rather than sit at home frustrated she has decided to use the year to do a (self funded) Humanistic Counselling course. Belts are going to be very tight.
Youngest missed out on being furloughed from her job as lightings buyer for a large online interior design company as she had handed in her notice to take effect from the end of her maternity leave (28 Feb) and had planned to start part time with a much smaller local company which is only now beginning to start reopening. But because she was not on their books, she could not be furloughed.
There will be some really hard situations to cope with judging by OP and Tanith’s posts alone.
What can we do? Be supportive, remind them that we are here if they need us and be encouraging if they are contemplating alternative courses of action.

DD1 is an Independent Celebrant who is self employed. Of course all Weddings, Baby Namings, etc. have been postponed and most funerals have been 'direct cremations' with no ceremony. Her income has gone through the floor, thankfully her OH has been furloughed, though returning to work soon, so they are managing - Just.

I haven't, but my heart goes out to the many who have lost their jobs. To be perfectly honest I don't know which is worst, the Covid or losing your livelihood including house.

Sadly this has happened to my son and his partner. They were running a country pub, being paid a salary, and had the use of managers house. They'd been there just over a year. Sadly, the owner of the pub decided to offer them the lease. If they had bought it they would have been left with no savings had rent to pay on the pub, and who knows how and when business would return to anything like normal.
The risk was too great so they declined and were then out of work, with no home!
Fortunately they knew someone who had a house to let. They took that and have both found temporary jobs. My son, doing agency work which isn't ideal, his partner, as a shop assistant.
They would love to go back into hospitality as it has been all they have known since leaving university.
One day, maybe.

My daughter works at a university (200 miles away from us) and is concerned they may decide they don't need her small dept since Covid-19. As she is pregnant with her first child and her husband has no income (was in process of trying to start a consultancy business just before all this) it is a real worry for her. We promised to help her out (just bought the cot) but now my husband is going to lose his job (he works for BA) and it looks like he will be sacked and have to apply for his job at up to 70% less wage. This will be much lower than mine and I am only just above the minimum national wage so we will struggle to pay rent and council tax, along with travel and parking for work, never mind anything else. My son is a carer on an low wage so can't even afford to give us anything. We are so worried we may lose our home (lost the home we owned about 5 years ago when I lost my job) and it is already taking its toll on my husband's health, even though he is trying to be proactive and apply for jobs.My heart goes out to anyone struggling and facing losing their home as I know the fear you are feeling.

My DS is a taxi driver, not in a big city, and is not working now. A lot of his work was running people to either Gatwick or Heathrow for holiday flights or returning from holiday. Of course this means he has not worked for over 2 months and has had to claim Universal credit, mortgage holiday etc. My DIL is a self employed childminder, but only looking after one child of a key worker at the moment, so they are struggling. They have 3 children of their own, who are at home and eating all the time, two 17 year olds and an 8 year old. I cannot see the situation getting much better anytime soon.

Such worrying times that will take its toll on our mental health.
DS is currently being assessed for redundancy, he has just signed a 12 month lease on a rental property, sharing with two others who are also at risk. I worry for him and his future and feel so powerless to help. I am so glad I am nearing the end of my working life but feel so sorry for those that are just starting out on theirs.

My DiL is a oboe player, freelance like most classical musicians. She has had no work since lockdown, apart from a bit of online teaching. The Guardian today reports that there are fears that classical music will not recover from this pandemic.

Yes my AD is going through the Redundancy process - basically they have managed without her for 3 months as she has been shielding for herself and me, and he has incorporated her job into the ones that are still there and can pay them a lot less anyway! She is heartbroken - she has severe MH issues (been waiting years to get the appropriate treatment) and was only managing that job as she had done it before - I doubt she will ever manage to work again.

We now have to fight the benefits system and will potentially lose he roof over our heads as I cannot manage without her income either as I am also ill and unable to work and have been for a decade - I am very asset rich and cash poor but buying in this area is virtually impossible and you don't get houses much smaller than my cottage! In any case, if I pay off my mortgage the council will grab that extra income to pay for my care - so am I going to be any better off moving?? Possibly not ..... it would be helpful if I could actually manage to speak with my bank, (currently have a complaint in with the Financial Ombudsman about them as have been trying to sort something for years now) but it seems that is impossible too .....?

My daughter wants to die, and I am not that far behind her - I am also going through a cancer scare. If it weren't for my little DGDs then I doubt I would be here much longer. In any case I will probably end up having a stroke with all the stress, it is just constant .......

I am in touch with the MH and Money Advice Service who are calling tomorrow - if they don't come up with anything then I don't know what to do?

My ds1 was furloughed as lorry driver as they you to supply schools and pubs. Home for 7 weeks to then back to work but delivering pallets of gravel and DIY stuff to individuals.
Ds2 works through agency and still furloughed but it sounds like he will be returning to previous work soon. Company he worked for now have all their own staff back and will be taking some agency back from July 1st and hopefully all by end of July.
Dd works for company in HR. There are 1600in company. She has had call to tell her over 800 will lose their jobs. She said she will likely have to work out the redundancy packaged then she thinks she will be let go. She has worked there almost 8 years. She has 3 months notice built into her contract. She says in a recession no one wants hr as no training, no bonuses and no promotions. They had a 5 year fix on mortgage come to end so got a new fix on a much better rate so mortgage almost £200 month cheaper now. Her husbands job is ok at moment though. She is looking about for new job but not seen any advertised. She has to work to help pay high mortgage. At moment furloughed and looking after 2 dgc 5 and almost 2.

If she loses her job I will offer her help towards mortgage. Probably give her our holiday money as it does not look like we will get holiday out of UK this year. She has said maybe she could get part time and then less nursery fees. I am worried about them.

I think many who are currently furloughed will not be taken back but they just don't know it yet. Very worrying for all at moment. Some will lose their homes for sure.

So many are in this situation - one of my sons included. However, we all know that it is easier to get a job IF you already have one. Many many firms are hiring and desperate for delivery drivers - may not be what one wants to do but it will be seen more favourably by future employers and pay better than Universal Credit.

DS is currently working for a university on a fixed term contract ending at the end of this month. His wife is training to become a vicar but is currently pregnant so will be taking a year off from the training next academic year. He has got another job starting in October but it is in Germany so they have to deal with moving abroad with a newborn! Between June and October he will be unemployed unless he is able to do any private tutoring so I'm not sure how they will be financing things. I'm only in a position to help a little bit - buying some of the stuff they will need for the baby - but they are going to live with DiL's parents so at least no rent to pay! I'm aware some people are in much more difficult circumstances and really feel for them. DD is working from home but many of her colleagues are furloughed and as she works for an orchestra as a planner the future is uncertain. We are all grateful for what we do have, especially our health!

In the short term, to tide people over, I don't know how you get into it but I am sure there are lots of farmers who would really appreciate some help with fruit picking etc. It may be low paid but it at least doing something useful - often in the fresh air and sunshine and it would also provide exercise to get those good feeling endorphins working! Also, it would be doing something for others (another feel-good factor) - and helping the economy.
I remember potato picking and fruit picking when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it!

Nanamar, you say your son is beating himself up because of his choices. It does sound as though your he has a 'negative attribution style' which occurs when people are depressed and tend always to blame themselves. Try to reframe the situation for him. It's a global pandemic - it's not him! It is awful when your children are hurting, isn't it? If you think he is really sinking into depression again, try to get help. However, looking at the positive, there will be opportunities aplenty for those looking for them in the coming months if they are prepared to be open and flexible. What are his skills? Can he start a small online presence, based on his interests, just to keep himself busy in the meantime? One of my children is a solo web-designer and she has been inundated with requests to set up websites for solo businesses, showing that people are getting economically active. Other daughter is furloughed and has been home-educating son. She has set up an ETSY account selling personalised embroidered face-masks. It's only pin-money, but it's something to give purpose during this imposed period out of normal employment. Good luck!

I have two friends whose offspring have been made redundant. My DD was furloughed immediately but is going back for a week parttime so we are hopeful she will still have a job.

MawB & TANITH
MawB
As far as I am aware your youngest Dd’s firm could have taken her back on their books legally even if she had handed her notice in on 28th February.
The government encouraged employers to do this to staff that had either left, (Even I believe up to 4 wks before lockdown) been given notice to quit or were due to be given notice to quit or due to leave sometime during the lockdown. This was to help ensure that people still had some sort of income while the lockdown was in effect. It would definitely be worth your DD checking with her old company to see if they would do this for her especially as Wednesday 10th June is the cut off for employers putting additional staff on to furlough. As a company it would have been the decent thing to do & It would not have cost the company any money as the government are obviously paying the 80%.

TANITH - not very nice of your DD’s company to do that but obviously they wanted it done before the 2year mark!
But again the government asked all companies not to do this but to instead keep staff on & claim furlough for them & then sort out any leaving etc after the lockdown.

I run a hair salon that had not been as financially healthy as I would have liked it to have been before lockdown so to help it out I had not taken a wage since Jan.
When the lockdown happened I was able to furlough my staff including one member who had handed her notice in on 15th March, as advised by the government I took her back on & furloughed her.
But because I myself had not been taking a wage to my shock & complete horror I found that I was not actually eligible for furlough myself!
I do not come under self employed either as it is a Ltd company so I fall through the net as they say.
I know I am certainly not the only person in this situation, my accountant after much checking could not help with a solution so the only option I have is to claim Universal Credit which if eligible I should receive on 9th July! I run a business employ 6 people pay tax, NI & company tax, & as asked to by the government I have kept a leaving member of staff on my books & furloughed her, yet I have received no help for myself, madness!
TANITH please get your daughter to take advice (even just a phone call to the citizens advise) I obviously don’t know the reason your daughter was given for being ‘let go’ but having spoken to my employment advisors before & throughout this lockdown I know that it is very difficult in normal times to have a Legitimate reason to let an employee go especially if they have health issues but in the current situation the law is very much on the employees side when it comes losing your job.
I have heard of many companies exploiting this situation with regard to wages & letting staff go, please make the effort to check it as you may find that your daughter hasn’t been treated fairly. If nothing else they should have had the decency to keep her furloughed as they where asked to do!

Sorry for such a long text & I hope that you both take my advice & do some checking with a favorable outcome for your DD’s

Yes. Furloughed and then will be made redundant. A kick in the teeth given that earlier in the year, the firm threw a party to celebrate his 20 years of loyal service. Hopefully he will find something else before too long. It's happening to so many people.

Yes, my son's partner has just been made redundant. Also my Nephew and his two half sisters.

So many difficult experiences shared here. Nanamar your son is one among many, and I'd say many in his generation and those younger have had a lot to cope with (student debt, financial crisis, insecure employment ...)

Among my 6 AC and partners, 1 is newly-redundant, and employment is looking precarious for all but the teacher among the remaining 5 (and she has been crazy-overworked). We have to look for chinks of hope, and support good change wherever we can.

I was in a similar situation to your son I left school and got a my dream job working with children. They closed down after a year and I took a job in a shop until I could find the right job unfortunately stayed for 14 years. AT 40 I moved
and had a mother I was looking after and a Husband unable to work for a while I did a correspondence course in book -keeping. Sadly mum died and I then went to evening course and at 44 started my own accountancy business at home and my Husband worked with me. He just needs to focus on what he likes and go for it. 40 is not to late to achieve a good career and a happy one. It can also give him a good future to retire in. Unlike your son I left school
with no real qualifications so it I can do it anyone can.

Menopause thanks for your good advice I’ve tried to persuade my daughter to do what you suggest but she won’t hear of it she’s so independent and stubborn. She was just getting back on her feet (literally) she still isn’t able to drive unfortunately but because she has savings to hopefully house herself (at present living with a son and fiancée) she isn’t able to claim anything and of course her savings will dwindle away supporting her in the meantime. So unfair to everybody affected.

So lucky really. Two AC who have kept jobs. One Dil also. Other DiL had to close business (curtains, blinds) but is working towards reopening on 18th June. Will be a different business by appointment only. At the very beginnings of this pandemic I did realise there will be a lot of real hardship suffered by many people and none through their own actions. Easy to say but unless money is available to give all that can be offered is support and understanding of how dire some lives will be.. It's just awful.