Martin Lewis urges furloughed Brits to check their payslips as rules change
10 September 2020, 10:31 | Updated: 10 September 2020, 10:39
The Money Saving Expert has told furlough workers to watch out for underpayments this month.
Martin Lewis has warned workers to check they have been paid the correct amount of money this month.
Back in April, the government brought in the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme which allowed furloughed workers to receive 80% of their pay.
Almost 10 million workers who were unable to do their job because of the pandemic, have had their wages paid by the government.
But from September, the rules of the scheme have changed, with the government reducing their contribution from 80% to 70% of wages.
This means the maximum pay-out furloughed workers can get is £2,187.50 a month, with employers having to top up the additional 10%.
Read More: Lust List: What we're buying, trying and dining on this September
But Money Saving expert Martin has now said many people could be underpaid, predicting that some employers might not abide by the new rules.
Shared in the weekly MoneySavingExpert newsletter, Martin said staff should keep an eye on their earnings this month.
Martin explained: "The government is only covering 70% of salaries and employers are being asked to pay the rest, plus national insurance and pension contributions.
"Yet you should still get the 80% - do ensure your employer's paying you what you're due.
"Plus if your employer asks you to work, it should be giving you full pay for the hours you do, and you only get furlough pay for the rest of your normal hours that you don't do.”
With the furlough scheme slowly being phased out, next month the government contribution will fall by 10% from 70% to 60% and will be capped to £1,875 a month.
This means businesses will have to pay 20% of salaries.
The changes follow the introduction of part-time working in July which allows some workers to return to work.
In August, all employers were also asked to start paying 5% contributions for pensions and other salary schemes.
