Coronavirus Act 2020

On 25 March, the Coronavirus Act 2020 received royal assent. The Act has three main aims:

• to give further powers to the government to slow the spread of the virus
• to reduce the resourcing and administrative burden on public bodies
• to limit the impact of potential staffing shortages on the delivery of public services.

Coronavirus furlough scheme extended

In June, HM Treasury announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will continue to run until 31 October, however it closed to new entrants on 30 June. From 1 July, employers were allowed to bring furloughed employees back to work for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for the hours not worked.