Chancellor extends furlough scheme until end of April 2021!

Rishi Sunak has announced that the furlough scheme is being extended until the end of April with the government continuing to contribute 80% towards wages (this was previously due to end at the end of March with a reduced contribution from the end of January).

The government will continue to pay 80% of the salary of employees for hours not worked until the end of April. Employers will only be required to pay wages, National Insurance Contributions and pensions for hours worked; and NICs and pensions for hours not worked.

This should hopefully provide more security and certainty for businesses and employees across the UK.

Businesses will also now have until the end of March to access government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes.

The Chancellor will announce the next phase of the plan to protect jobs and enable businesses to plan and access support in the Budget on 3rd March 2021. This will give businesses more than 45 days before the end date of the scheme to ensure that they can comply with the 45 day collective redundancy notice period if necessary.