Government announces that parents returning to work after extended leave will be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Change will apply to people on statutory maternity and paternity leave, and to those on adoption leave, shared parental leave, and parental bereavement leave.

Parents returning to work after extended leave will be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the government has announced.

With the Chancellor Rishi Sunak having confirmed last week that the CJRS will close to new entrants on 30 June 2020, claims from July onwards will be restricted to employers currently using the scheme and previously furloughed employees, which means that people must be on the furlough scheme by today at the latest.

However, the government has announced that -

'... parents on statutory maternity and paternity leave who return to work in the coming months after a long period of absence will be permitted to be furloughed ... where they work for an employer who has previously furloughed employees.'

NB - the government says that more details of the change will be included in updated guidance due to be published on 12 June 2020, but confirms that it will also apply to people on adoption leave, shared parental leave, and parental bereavement leave.

For more information, see Parents returning to work after extended leave eligible for furlough from gov.uk