Coronavirus: Thousands call on government to amend 'huge oversight' in job retention scheme as workers face being laid off across UK

Thousands of individuals are calling on the government to amend a “huge oversight” in the coronavirus job retention scheme that is already leaving workers being laid off across the country.

Unveiling the programme ten days ago, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, said employers can claim a grant covering 80 per cent of the wages for a furloughed worker – to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

He said the “unprecedented” package would allow those placed on temporary leave to volunteer without risking their pay, or sign up as one of the many of thousands to help the NHS as the cases of covid-19 continue to climb.

But under updated criteria for the scheme published by the government on Friday, workers must have been on their employer's PAYE payroll on or before the 28 February 2020 – three weeks before Boris Johnson announced stringent restrictions on public life.

A Facebook group set up by workers ineligible for the retention programme due to the cut-off date has already attracted hundreds of members within days, with dozens of posts detailing how they have already been laid off by employers. Those in the process of changing jobs have also been affected.

Over 3,000 have also signed a petition urging the government to amend this “huge oversight”, adding it “puts thousands of workers at risk, and stuck in the place of having no income and little to no prospect of getting employment in this current economy”.

Samuel Keir, a 26-year-old charity worker, was told on Friday by his employer that he would not be kept on as he had not been on the company’s payroll before 28 February. “There has been quite a lot of people who have come together – actually hundreds of people who have come together with similar stories,” he told The Independent.

“Hopefully [we’ll] push to get the scheme revised so that people like myself and thousands of people who fall in between the gap can actually be eligible for the furloughing.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he had raised the issue with the chancellor “to amend the support scheme” so that people do not fall through the gaps. “We will keep pressing for action on this,” he added.

Kuljit Athwal, a 39-year-old software engineer, believed he would have been covered the scheme when it was announced by the chancellor. “My employer on the day after it was announced sent me an email saying they were furloughing the entire company and that we’d all be covered,” he said.

Mt Athwal said the Treasury had updated its guidance on 26 March, adding: “That very day my employer sent me a second email saying unfortunately yesterday’s email doesn’t apply to you and as such we have no choice but to terminate you. I was basically let go the same day.”

He believes the government should either remove the cut-off date completely, or push it back to the day the scheme was announced by the government. “The PAYE records exist for previous employment, so if there’s any doubt in the government’s mind about the legitimacy of somebody’s claim, the evidence is there for them to look at,” he said.

Elina, a 23-year-old who lives in London, started her new role as a marketing and communications manager on 2 March, said she was “hopeful” the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme would be able to help her when it was first announced. “I remained cautiously optimistic until the new details were released,” she added. “It just seems like a massive loophole in my opinion.

“It was worse than losing my job. Obviously, I really, really valued my employer. I think they are great, wonderful people who I respect and knew that they would have done anything in their power to have kept me and support me and they are in a really difficult time themselves.

“For me it seems there should be a way to prove that you are employed by a company from the date the furlough scheme was announced, as opposed to this date of 28 February.”

Rebecca Long-Bailey, a contender in the Labour leadership race and current shadow business secretary, told The Independent: “Thousands of people have slipped through the net and now face losing their jobs and months of hardship unless the government acts quickly to extend its job protection scheme”.

She continued: “There is no justification for setting an arbitrary cut off date weeks before the chancellor’s announcement. He must ensure all people employed on PAYE on the date the scheme was announced are covered, to prevent further job losses.”

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, added: “Employers should use the full support now available to them to keep workers on. That includes not just the Job Retention Scheme, but business interruption loans too. And they should sit down with unions to look at all options before any lay offs”.

Announcing the furlough scheme earlier this month, Mr Sunak said workers who lose their jobs will be eligible for mortgage holidays and universal credit.

A Treasury spokesperson added: “Our coronavirus job retention scheme is protecting thousands of jobs up and down the UK – with the government covering 80% of the salary of furloughed workers.

“Firms can reemploy staff made redundant after 1 March and those who do not qualify will be able to access a range of other support – including an increase in the universal credit allowance, income tax deferrals, £1 billion more support for renters and access to three-month mortgage holidays."