Furlough for those on parental leave

The Government announced yesterday that parents on statutory maternity,  paternity or shared parental leave who return to work in the coming months after a long period of absence will still be permitted to be furloughed as long as their employer has already furloughed other staff members in the past.

The announcement came just hours before the 10th June deadline for any new joiners to the furlough scheme.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a raft of changes to the job retention scheme last month, including a tapering of the scheme from September and the introduction of part-time furlough. During these announcements Mr Sunak stated that employers needed to apply for any new employees, who had not been previously furloughed, by a deadline of the 10th June. This is anticipation of the flexible furlough scheme details being announced on Friday 12th June 2020.

Adding parents on leave

Sunak said yesterday: “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.”

The Government says the furlough scheme has helped one million employers across the UK furlough almost nine million jobs.  It will close to new entrants on 30 June, meaning the deadline for any previously unfurloughed employees to fulfil the minimum requirement of three weeks furlough is 10th June.

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