More than two thirds of furloughed employees received wage top-ups from their employers in addition to CJRS payments during first two weeks of June

New ONS figures also show that just under a quarter of the workforce were on furlough in the same period

More than two thirds of furloughed employees received wage top-ups from their employers in addition to Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) payments during the first two weeks of June, according to new Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

In Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 2 July 2020, the ONS sets out data for the period 1 June 2020 to 14 June 2020 based on a voluntary survey of businesses.

Findings include that -

• 86 per cent of businesses were trading, with 80 per cent of businesses trading for more than the last two weeks;
• of the businesses trading, 6 per cent of their total workforce had returned from furlough in the two weeks prior to completing the survey, while 2 per cent returned from remote working to their normal workplace;
• 68 per cent of the furloughed workforce of businesses that had not permanently stopped trading had their pay topped up - private sector businesses in education, and human health and social work activities reported the largest proportion of their furloughed workforce receiving top-ups, at 97 per cent and 92 per cent respectively; and
• 23 per cent of the workforce of all ongoing businesses were on furlough.

NB - in a separate report, Coronavirus and the economic impacts on the UK: 2 July 2020, the ONS provides further details of CJRS uptake across employment sectors that shows that the accommodation and food sector and water and waste sector reported the highest percentage of businesses having received CJRS payments, at 98 per cent for both. In addition, the ONS reports that uptake of the CJRS varied by UK region, where Scotland had the highest uptake at 83 per cent, compared to 81 per cent in Wales, 79 per cent in England, and 74 per cent in Northern Ireland.

Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 2 July 2020 is available from ons.gov.uk