Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether employees that are being paid through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will jeopardise their access to that scheme in the event that they undertake short-term employment for work places that (a) are understaffed as a result of workers self-isolating, (b) classified as essential by the Government, (c) are experiencing an increased demand as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and (d) where work can be done remotely.

The Government seeks, as far as possible, to protect people’s jobs and incomes. This is an unprecedented jobs retention scheme and the Government has been working hard to set out further details on the scheme. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is open to any individual who was on an employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020. Full details can be found in the guidance available at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme and www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme, which provides answers to these questions.