COVID-19: Furlough extended till October 2020

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to be extended by a further four months to October 2020. When originally announced, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, the scheme was offered from March to June to stop a deluge of redundancies and subsequent poverty for workers as a result of being unable to work due to COVID-19.

Mr Sunak announced this week that the scheme will be extended for a further four months, until October 2020, with some flexibility for employers to bring back furloughed employees part-time, in line with the government’s over-arching aim to get the British economy back up and running.

Sunak has pledged that workers will continue to get 80% of their wages subsided by the government, and from August 2020 also partly from employers. The extension affects all industries and sectors, but with the expectation that different industries and sectors will experience different terms of furlough relating to the lockdown easing plan and how soon workers can return to work full time.

Sunak clearly highlighted in his speech to parliament that employers will need to support the government to help subside wages, particularly if employees are brought back to work part-time.

Full details on how the scheme’s transition will evolve from August to October remains to be seen and is expected to be shared by the Chancellor around the end of May.

See full details on the scheme here and who is eligible.