Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support is available for people with fixed term employment contracts that ended prior to 19 March 2020; and how that support differs for people on (a) full time, (b) agency, (c) flexible and (d) zero-hour contracts.

Employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible and zero-hour contracts are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme providing they were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020, and that HMRC received an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020. Fixed term employees can also be claimed for, and if their contract has not already expired it can be extended or renewed.

If employees were made redundant or stopped working for their employer on or after 28 February 2020, they can be re-employed by their previous employer and put on furlough as long as they were on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 28 February 2020. Employees that started and ended the same contract between 28 February 2020 and 19 March 2020 will not qualify for this scheme. This is not specific to employees on fixed-term contracts, the same would apply to employees on all other contracts.

Guidance for employers can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#employees-you-can-claim-for

Those who are not eligible to receive this grant may be able to access other support Government is providing. This includes a package of temporary welfare measures, including increases in the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element; providing local councils an additional £500 million to support the most vulnerable people in society; and providing up to three-month mortgage payment holidays for those struggling with their mortgage payments.