Employers call for furlough scheme to be more flexible

A new survey reveals that employers want to see the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) made more flexible to allow furloughed staff to work reduced hours.

The CIPD report also found that of the 1,000 employers surveyed, many want the scheme to be extended to at least the end of September.

The data shows that almost half (46%) of employers have already furloughed staff, while another 10% plan to do so. However, more than three quarters of employers that have already furloughed staff (76%) or plan to furlough staff (78%) said that making the scheme more flexible to enable furloughed staff to work reduced hours would be useful.

Employers would also like the JRS extended to the end of September, with 60% identifying this as the most important labour market policy change that would help them deal with the impact of Covid-19.

According to the CIPD, this is crucial given that the survey suggests that the JRS has played a vital role in protecting jobs to-date, with just seven per cent of employers having already made redundancies in response to Covid-19 to-date, with a further 12% planning to.

CIPD Chief Executive, Peter Cheese, commented, “The Government has worked hard to get the job retention scheme up and running so quickly. However, urgent decisions must now be taken to make it more flexible and to extend it so employers can continue to protect jobs.

“Letting furloughed staff work some hours, where possible, will enable organisations to bring back workers from furlough gradually while rebuilding their business. This will be vital as lockdown measures are eased over a number of weeks or months, and will reduce the risk of large-scale redundancies in this next phase of the crisis.

“The Government must also consider extending the scheme to at least the end of September. This will provide more certainty for employers and ensure that there is no ‘cliff edge’ exit from furlough straight to redundancy for hundreds of thousands of workers at the end of June.

“The Government has shown its prepared to adapt and improve its rescue packages for businesses and workers as this crisis develops. It needs to do so again here. Equally, businesses must play their part. We need to see employers weigh up the ethical, legal and financial considerations of using the scheme, to act openly and responsibly to ensure that a more flexible system is not abused, and that public money goes to the businesses that need it the most.”

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.