Furlough cut-off date will not apply to those on maternity leave

People on paternity and maternity leave who return to work after the 10 June cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will remain eligible for the government’s furlough scheme.

As part of the planned flexible furloughing from 1 July, new entrants to the scheme cannot join after 10 June.

However, the government has confirmed that parents on statutory maternity and paternity leave who return to work after 10 June will be permitted to be furloughed.

This also applies to people on adoption leave, shared parental leave, and parental bereavement leave.

The employer must have previously furloughed other employees.

Chancellor, Rishi Sunak explained:

"When I announced these changes to the furlough scheme last month, I was clear that we wanted to do this in a fair way, that supports people back to work as the country begins to re-open following coronavirus.

But for parents returning from leave, their circumstances has meant that they are still in need of support, and I’m pleased that they will be able to receive the financial assistance they and their family will need."

Around 1 million employers have used the furlough scheme, furloughing almost 9 million jobs.

For all other workers, the scheme closes to new entrants on 30 June, with the last three-week furloughs before that point commencing on 10 June.

More details of the change can be found in our separate article.