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Life during furlough: Challenges to dignity from a changed employment status

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  • Peter Hamilton
  • Oonagh Harness
  • Martyn Griffin

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Hamilton & Oonagh Harness & Martyn Griffin, 2022. "Life during furlough: Challenges to dignity from a changed employment status," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 523-544, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:53:y:2022:i:6:p:523-544
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12384
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Melinda Laundon & Paula McDonald & Abby Cathcart, 2019. "Fairness in the workplace: organizational justice and the employment relationship," Chapters, in: Keith Townsend & Kenneth Cafferkey & Aoife M. McDermott & Tony Dundon (ed.), Elgar Introduction to Theories of Human Resources and Employment Relations, chapter 20, pages 295-310, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    3. Amy L. Fraher & Yiannis Gabriel, 2014. "Dreaming of Flying When Grounded: Occupational Identity and Occupational Fantasies of Furloughed Airline Pilots," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(6), pages 926-951, September.
    4. Kristen Lucas, 2015. "Workplace Dignity: Communicating Inherent, Earned, and Remediated Dignity," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 621-646, July.
    5. Camilla Quental & Yuliya Shymko, 2021. "What life in favelas can teach us about the COVID‐19 pandemic and beyond: Lessons from Dona Josefa," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 768-782, March.
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    1. Felix Ballesteros-Leiva & Sylvie St-Onge & Marie-Ève Dufour, 2023. "Furloughed Employees’ Voluntary Turnover: The Role of Procedural Justice, Job Insecurity, and Job Embeddedness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-14, April.

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