News

Employees returning from parental leave continue to be eligible for furlough scheme
16 June 2020

Employees returning from statutory maternity and paternity leave in the next few months will remain eligible for furlough through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

Since 10 June, it has no longer been possible to furlough an employee for the first time, with the Government set to introduce part-time furlough from 1 July onwards. To facilitate this, the scheme will only be available to employers that are using the CJRS and employees that have previously been furloughed.

Because workers must complete 21 days of furlough to be eligible for part-time furlough, this means that the cut-off date for employees to be placed on furlough leave was Wednesday 10 June.

However, employees returning from parental leave will be eligible for the CJRS as they return to work, with further details set to be announced by the Government imminently.

The CJRS has helped more than one million employers so far, with more than one quarter of the UK workforce being furloughed.

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “When I announced these changes to the furlough scheme last month, I was clear that we wanted to do this in a fair way, that supports people back to work as the country begins to re-open following coronavirus.

“But for parents returning from leave, their circumstances has meant that they are still in need of support, and I’m pleased that they will be able to receive the financial assistance they and their family will need.”