Furloughed workers could be told to go back part-time in announcement tomorrow

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is expected to be scaled back.

Furloughed workers may return part-time as reports indicate the scheme could be scaled back as early as this week.

More than 6,000,000 people are currently on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which sees the government pay 80% of workers’ wages, up to £2,500 a month. The programme, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak at the start of lockdown, is believed to be costing around £8,000,000,000.

The scheme is due to run out in June. The government is expected to make a decision about its future this weekend, with Sunak and Business secretary Alok Sharma meeting with industry leaders and trade unions to discuss the next steps.

One option reportedly being considering is reducing the government’s wage payments to 60%; therefore cutting income by up to £625 a month.

Once lockdown restrictions start to relax, this could be cut down further still to encourage people to either return to work part-time of look for new jobs, The Sun reports.

Workers in industries likely to remain closed the longest, such as hospitality or travel, will then be able to benefit from the furlough scheme for longer.

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Craig Beaumont, director of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘We really hope to see progress made on a part-time furlough because smaller businesses in particular benefit from being able to quote for new work, keep in touch with employees and pay their invoices.’

On Sunday evening Boris Johnson sparked confusion by stating that staff whose jobs can’t be done at home should start returning to work. Many company bosses insisted they hadn’t been given time to ensure their working environments are safe for employees.

The government then released a 50-page strategy for leaving lockdown today, which stated that those who can must work from home ‘for the foreseeable future’.

It indicated that those in the food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research sectors should return to work from Wednesday. Hospitality and ‘non-essential businesses’ will remain closed for until at least July.

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