The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak is expected to announce an extension to the furlough scheme this evening.
Under the ‘job retention scheme,’ the Government subsidises the wages of workers temporarily laid off due to the coronavirus.
Last week we reported that at least 6.3 million people are currently having up to 80 per cent of their salaries paid by the taxpayer at a cost of some £8 billion.
However, with the extension announcement he is also expected to cut the payments from 80% of earnings to 60% with Mr Sunak warning just last week that the furlough scheme was not ‘sustainable’ in its current form although he also promised there would be no ‘cliff edge’ cut-off.
Furloughed staff who go back to work part-time may have their wages subsidised by the government.
A part-time furloughing scheme could allow companies to bring back more staff on a rota, which would enable them to maintain social distancing but also help prevent redundancies, as is unlikely retailers will need all of their staff in the early days of being reopen.
