I work in one of the large medical device multinationals in Galway as a contractor. I'm a self employed contractor. I work under a umbrella company structure via a agency. So the multinational pays the agency, the agency pays my umbrella company and my umbrella company pays me. Two days ago a group of us got called in by our boss (Who works for the multinational) and we were told we were been furloughed for two weeks. Furlough is a american term for leave without pay. We were told to leave that afternoon and not return for two weeks. We got about 3 hours notice. I have written contract for 39 hours per week for a period of one year. Can anybody tell me if this is legal? Any help would be great.