(Bloomberg) --
U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak extended a government program that pays most of the wages of employees furloughed because of the coronavirus, averting potentially thousands of job losses.
The three-month Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will now run until June 30, Sunak said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. The extra month could add an extra 14 billion pounds ($17 billion) to the program's expected cost of 42 billion pounds.
Business leaders had warned that unless the program was extended, companies would have to start to process of laying off workers as soon as Saturday because employers are required by law to hold a 45-day consultation period before making redundancies. Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said on Friday “thousands” of jobs were at risk.
Under the unprecedented program, the government has pledged to pay 80% of furloughed employees' salaries -- up to a maximum of 2,500 pounds a month. The aim is to protect jobs so that the economy is able to fire up again once the government relaxes lockdown measures imposed to slow the spread of the virus.
“It is vital for people's livelihoods that the U.K economy gets up and running again when it is safe to do so,” Sunak said. “I will continue to review the scheme so it is supporting our recovery.”
| Read a summary of Sunak's coronavirus measures: |
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| Sunak's ‘Whatever It Takes' Virus Support Unprecedented in U.K. |
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