Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

(asked on 23rd March 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to force employers to enrol in the Government scheme for the public purse to provide 80 per cent of an employee's salary if they are unable to work as a result of covid-19.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 31st March 2020

The Government will make sure it protects, as far as possible, people’s jobs and incomes. This is an unprecedented jobs retention scheme and the Government has been working hard over the last week to set out further details on the scheme. Full details can now be found in the guidance available at: http://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

Employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus are encouraged to use the scheme instead of making staff redundant. Under the scheme, employers can put employees on temporary leave and the Government will pay them cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500 per month, providing they keep the individual employed. As set out in the guidance, the scheme does cover workers on flexible or zero-hour contracts.

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