The government has published further details of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (otherwise known as the Furlough Scheme). It is unclear whether HMRC intends to rely on this guidance only, or whether there will be actual legislation. Below is a summary of the main points, however the full guidance (read here) will need to be read and professional advice taken before businesses make any decisions or take any action in respect of this scheme, as there are likely to
Given the way this scheme was built up prior to its announcement and how it has been reported, certainly in some areas of the media, employers will be forgiven for thinking that this is a scheme to financially support them by subsidising their wage costs through this difficult period. This scheme is nothing of the sort and provides no direct financial benefit to employers whatsoever. This scheme is really a device to help employees who would otherwise not be receiving an
Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced (at 2:20): “Travelling to and from work [is permitted], but only where it is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home”. That was ambiguous, in that it was not clear whether the work had to be necessary, or whether the travel to get there had to be necessary. An hour or so later, the government published a document entitled Full guidance on staying at home and away from others. That guidance said “Travelling to and
The head of the TUC, Frances O’Grady, at their conference on 10 September 2019, called for discrimination based on class to be added to the existing heads of unlawful discrimination in employment. In my view, if implemented fully, this would constitute the most significant and far-reaching change in employment law for many years. Not only would employers need to undertake a fundamental overhaul of their employment policies and processes right from the recruitment stage, it would require careful thinking in many