This note arises from an interaction between a client and an LAA Contract Manager. The former requested their consent to the furlough their family supervisor. The CM flatly refused. (We do not know if this is LAA policy).
They asked for our view, which we are now sharing.
Under 2018 Contract Specification 2.10 you are required to “have” an FTE Supervisor who may be an “employee”.
Under 2018 Contract Standard Term 21.11 (e) you must notify the LAA of:
any change in the identity of any of your Supervisors
We do not believe that “furlough” represents “a change in the identity” and under this scheme the supervisor remains employed.
The LAA have said the following here:
We would ask you to consider and share with your contract manager your planned approach to:
- dealing with urgent matters
- ensuring general supervision of work, including remote supervision
You should continue to document evidence on how supervision has been applied in line with accreditation and professional standards where applicable. (emphasis added)
We do not believe that this is a requirement to disclose however would advise compliance.
Contract Specification 2.24 however seems most pertinent:
If a Supervisor is for any reason temporarily unable to act you may for a period of up to 6 weeks either:
(a) nominate a Caseworker who does not meet all the Supervisor requirements (as defined in Paragraph 2.11) to supervise; or
We believe this allows for the furlough of a supervisor for an initial 6-weeks without the express agreement of the LAA. This is practically no different to a period of sick leave. After that period:
you must immediately inform your Contract Manager who will decide at their reasonable discretion what you must do to comply with the Contract
Hopefully the situation will be different in 6-weeks time, the furlough will be lifted and things will be returning to normal. In the meantime in line with the above it is worth repeating:
You should continue to document evidence on how supervision has been applied in line with accreditation and professional standards where applicable
The alternative to furlough, in our clients circumstances, is redundancy for the supervisor – exactly what the Corona Virus Job Retention Scheme is designed to avoid. They would of course then still have the 6-weeks grace before a temporary supervisor agreement would need be agreed and put in place in any event.
Let’s hope this was a single rogue CM.
