Petition · past parliament

Coronavirus job retention scheme extended to the 31st March 2020

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

Extend the coronavirus job retention scheme to employees who joined a business from employment through March 2020 which can be evidenced through contractual agreements.

Amendment to employees who were on the payroll as of the 31st March 2020 (or the point of the announcement at the minimum)
At the point of the announcement and as a business we had one new starter join the business on the 16th March and a 2nd joining on the 23rd March both coming from full time permanent employment.

The announcement was made to the UK on the 20th March yet the scheme was backdated to the 28th February which seem unjustified when employees would have been in a transition period

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

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

Key facts

Signatures 18
Status Rejected
Rejected 24 Apr 2020

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