Yesterday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the UK scheme to pay wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus would be extended to October 2020.
Since lockdown began, the Chancellor has been adamant about supporting workers and companies through the crisis and as a result of this put the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in place.
To date, this has supported over 1 million businesses and enabled 7.5 million employees to be furloughed and not lose their jobs.
This development does not change the current scheme, the principles remain with any employee who has been furloughed still receiving 80% of their monthly wages up to £2,500 and this will be in place until July at the earliest.
From August, the government will ask companies to “start sharing” the cost of the scheme. The scheme will however continue for all sectors and regions of the country but with greater flexibility to support the transition back to work.
Employers currently using the scheme will be able to bring furloughed employees back part-time.
Mr Sunak said: “I’m extending the scheme because I won’t give up on the people who rely on it. Our message today is simple: we stood behind Britain’s workers and businesses as we came into this crisis, and we will stand behind them as we come through the other side.”
To find out more about this update, visit the Gov.UK website.