Presenting to MPs this morning, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the current Furlough Scheme (a.k.a. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) will be extended for a further 4 months. It will now run until the end of October 2020, which will mean UK workers will have benefitted from 8 months of financial support from the government by the time the scheme is scheduled to end. Currently 750,000 businesses are benefitting and around 1 in 4 people are furloughed.
Although the exact details of how the Furlough Scheme will be extended were not released today, the Chancellor did clarify some important points:
- The current Furlough Scheme as it stands (with 80% of wage bills covered up to £2,500 per month) will continue in full until the end of July 2020;
- From August 2020 until the end of October 2020 furloughed workers will be allowed to work part-time with their employer continuing to receive support;
- There will be no reduction to the financial level of support provided, but employers will be expected to assist with payments to employees;
- Full technical details explaining how the part-time furloughing will work are to be revealed by the end of May. These will outline how the grants, working hours and employer contributions will interact.
If you need advice or support to help your business survive the coming months, contact partners@rjp.co.uk