Petition · past parliament

ALL employees to be eligible for the Job retention scheme - COVID19

Rejected 15 signatures

What the petition asks

Since the government revealed the Job Retention Scheme only those employees that have been on payroll since 28/02/2020 are eligible. This means that thousands of employees that have started a new job after this date cannot claim 80 percent of their wages.
These employees have been paying their taxes for years and should be eligible for the same benefits and not be penalised for having a change in career. I’m calling on Boris Johnson to change the job retention scheme to allow ALL employees to claim. In these very uncertain times we shouldn’t be letting people fall through the gaps of this scheme.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: Change the Furlough Support Scheme to include new hires after 28th February.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
 
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
 
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

30 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
24 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 15
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Apr 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.