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Today I can announce that for the first time in our history the government is going to step in and help to pay people's wages. We're setting up a new coronavirus job retention scheme. Any employer in the country, small or large, charitable or non-profit, will be eligible for the scheme. Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working, but are furloughed and kept on payroll, rather than being laid off. Government grants will cover 80% of the salary of retained workers up to a total of 2,500 pounds a month. That's just above the median income. And of course, employers can top up salaries further if they choose to. That means workers in any part of the UK can retain their job even if their employer cannot afford to pay them, and be paid at least 80% of their salary.
The coronavirus job retention scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to march the 1st, and will be open initially for at least three months. And I will extend the scheme for longer if necessary. I am placing no limit on the amount of funding available for the scheme. We will pay grants to support as many jobs as necessary. And can I put on record my thanks to the Trades Union Congress, the CBI, and other business groups for our constructive conversations. We said we would stand together with the British people and we meant it.
