United Kingdom: companies to start sharing the cost of job retention scheme, which is to finish at end of October

In an update on 29 May on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which the UK government put in place to combat the crisis sparked by the coronavirus emergency, it was announced that from the month of August employers will have to start covering the pension and national insurance contributions of staff that are furloughed. Employers will then have to begin covering part of staff wages, a proportion that will rise gradually to reach 20% in October, the last month in which the scheme will be active. From 1 July, workers on the job retention scheme may return to work on a part-time basis, with companies having to cover only the wages for hours worked.
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The plans unveiled by the government indicate that in June and July the state will continue to pay, as it has done since the start of the pandemic, 80% of the wages of people who are furloughed (placed on leave), up to a maximum of £2,500 (€2,778) per person per month, and without demanding any contributions from companies (see article n°11747). However it will no longer be possible to furlough additional staff from 30 June. From 1 July, meanwhile, companies will be able to bring furloughed...

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