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furlough

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NOUN

a. A leave of absence or vacation, especially one granted to a member of the armed forces.

b. A usually temporary layoff from work.

c. A temporary leave of absence granted to a prisoner under special circumstances, such as the need to attend the funeral of a family member, or for a special purpose, such as participation in a work program.

YourDictionary

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TRANSITIVE VERB

- to grant a furlough to
- to terminate the employment of (a worker)

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ORIGIN

Furlough comes to English from the Dutch word verlof (ver = for + lof = permission) and is modelled after the German "Verlaub" (permission, leave). It can be used as a noun or as a verb.

Common types of furloughs include short leaves of absence from the military, or even from prison. A third type, the work furlough, generally refers to someone who has been laid off. Most times no one wants this type of leave since it often results in the loss of a job.

While used primarily by the military, the term furlough was placed in the public spotlight after the US federal government shutdown that resulted in nearly 1,000,000 government workers being sent home without pay in 2013. When referring to furloughs, businesses typically rely on phrases such as "lay-offs" or by using euphemistic expressions like "work force reductions" and "downsizing."

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In 2020, Her Majesty’s Government introduced a furlough programme to support employers and workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Up until the pandemic outbreak the use of “furlough” was relatively uncommon in the United Kingdom, and some HR managers were not acquainted with the “furlough” system. The government announced a new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to enable businesses to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those that would otherwise have been made unemployed.

Wikipedia

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SYNONYMS

(noun)
compulsory leave

(verb)
send on compulsory leave

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation, say something like:

"Their management are planning to FURLOUGH 30% of workers over the next 18 months."