WE ARE NEW STARTER JUSTICE
We are campaigning for all those in the United Kingdom who changed jobs after the 28th February 2020, who now have no work or income due to the coronavirus, to be eligible for the CJRS.
Why are we campaigning for change?
When lockdown was announced, the government announced a number of support packages to help maintain businesses and jobs. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was a grant scheme developed so that furloughed workers (workers put on unpaid leave due to the coronavirus) could still receive 80% of their income up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
The HMRC guidance (as of 20th April 2020) for CJRS states that to be eligible you must have been on “your employer’s PAYE payroll before or on 19 March 2020 and notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020…If you were employed as of 28 February 2020 and on payroll (i.e. notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 28 February) and were made redundant or stopped working for your employer prior to 19 March 2020, you can also qualify for the scheme if your employer re-employs you and puts you on furlough”. Employees who are eligible to be furloughed can be enrolled on the scheme at the employer’s discretion.
However, many who started new jobs in late February/March, or were due to start new jobs, are not able to claim furlough with their new employer. Approximately 95% of previous employers have refused to re-hire in order for new starters to claim furlough.
This is a huge oversight and puts thousands of workers at risk, and stuck in the place of having no income and little to no prospect of getting alternative employment in this current economy.
Punishing those for bettering themselves by furthering their career and starting a new job and those reliant on seasonal work is not fair.
We are asking government for this scheme to be amended so that all new starters are able to claim furlough.
Please sign and share our campaign petition:
New Starter Justice 