The UK Government has extended its job protection furlough scheme until March 2021 and raised the support back to 80%.
When the Coronavirus pandemic first hit and the UK went into lockdown in March, thousands of businesses across the UK were forced to close their doors. The hospitality sector has seen record layoffs since then, with some businesses shutting down altogether and others issuing redundancies to staff as there's no longer work for them.
The UK Government has launched several measures to help keep people employed, the most important of which is the Job Retention Scheme. It allows businesses to furlough workers rather than making them redundant, and the government will then reimburse the company for 80% of the employee's wages as a grant, up to £2,500 per month per employee.
RELATED: UK furlough scheme to be extended until October
The scheme was intended as a short term solution to the COVID crisis, and came alongside a similar scheme for those who are self-employed. The furlough scheme was later extended until the end of October, but the government began reducing the level of support in August by asking employers to contribute more toward wages of furloughed staff.
HMRC recently announced a replacement scheme that would drastically reduce the amount of support available to businesses and would only support jobs that are currently viable. As we are now in the middle of a second wave and further lockdowns are continuing to happen, the government has now extended the original furlough scheme until March 2021 instead.
RELATED: UK government reveals Jobs Support Scheme for the winter
If you are currently furloughed full time or part time by your employer, they can continue to do so and will be paid 80% of your current salary for all unworked hours. If you were recently made redundant by your employer because there's no work available, they may be able to take you back on and place you on furlough instead.
Self employed people will also be getting similar support in the form of grants that will cover 80% of their normal income. Each grant will cover a 3 month period and is capped at £7,500. All of these measures will be re-examined in January, when changes may be made depending on the coronavirus situation.
Source: Gov.uk
