The Government has agreed to extend its coronavirus Jobs Retentions Scheme to help protect millions of workers from redundancy after lockdown measures are relaxed.
The furlough initiative, which was due to end on May 31, will now run until June 30 2020. It comes after hundreds of of businesses warned of imminent redundancies without an extension - with one body, the UK Hospitality, estimating that one million hotel, pub and restaurant jobs could be lost without an extension to July.
On March 20, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a new Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme to help secure the pay of thousands of employees who faced redundancy or a loss of income due to the outbreak.