Furlough Fiasco

After the lockdown restrictions that were lifted this summer, a number of bars, restaurants and shops have reopened and thousands of hospitality staff have been advised to return to work, in order to sustain their income. However, this news update follows the two-week deadline for the furlough scheme, as it is soon to be replaced by the job support scheme on the 1st of November.

Because of this upcoming deadline a large percentage of workers are now being told ‘’that they will receive at least 67% of their pay from the government’’ as a result of this scheme; as the majority of the employees are minimum wage employees or small business owners. Until winter arrives workers will still receive ’20 percent’ of their pay from their employer and ‘‘60% from the government’’; however every employee on the scheme will still have the possibility of inevitably becoming redundant.

At the beginning of November, the new job support scheme will replace the furlough scheme and will be forced to pay all employees who cannot go to work due to the ''very high tier three coronavirus restrictions’’. The government will then be responsible for up to ‘67% of wages’, with restrictions of up to ‘‘£2100 per person each month’’.

In order to be accepted onto the new scheme, a worker must have not completed a shift in over seven days, however the government does not have to pay towards this payment. At the beginning of the upcoming month when the new job support scheme is set to be introduced, the average pay will decrease by a further 13%, however it will only be lowered by 2% during the original job scheme, compared to the rates of the furlough scheme.

The replacement scheme will additionally help ‘’firms which are allowed to open and where employees can return part-time’’, this will only be acceptable if employees are being ‘’paid to work at least a third of their hours’’; in order for them to be able to qualify for support.

Furthermore, the new job scheme will run from November 1st for a fixed six months; which will be followed by a review’ this will be held in order to help resolve any issues and make further improvements. Statistics show that over ‘’9.6 million workers’’ were furloughed since March by ‘’1.2 million employers’’, whilst an estimated £60 billion pounds has been spent so far supporting the new job scheme; this is in addition to the increasing debts of furlough. Workers have been told that for them to be eligible for the scheme, they must have been furloughed for at least three weeks; although they may still be eligible if they have been furloughed more than once.