Martin Lewis confirms those made redundant can be rehired and furloughed if employed as of 23rd September

Martin Lewis has made an important confirmation regarding the furlough scheme this morning ahead of the upcoming national lockdown.

Taking to Twitter to address the public, Mr Lewis – of leading finance advice platform MoneySavingExpert.com – confirmed that those who have been made redundant in recent weeks can actually be rehired and then furloughed by their employer if they were employed as of 23rd September and on the payroll on or before 30th October.

He indicated that this confirmation “won’t work for many, but may be worth asking for some”.

It comes after it is speculated that a significant number of workers across the UK have been made redundant from their jobs over the past month or so as companies prepared for the furlough scheme to come to an end on 31st October.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that the furlough scheme will be extended for a further month during the announcement of the four-week national lockdown in England, which will be voted on in Parliament on Wednesday and is expected to take effect from 0.01 GMT on Thursday 5th November.

The furlough scheme will continue to cover 80% of employees’ wages.

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CONFIRMED: If you've been made redundant, you can be rehired and furloughed by your employer if you were employed as of 23 Sept, and on the payroll on or before 30 Oct.

It won't work for many, but many be worth asking for some.

PLEASE SHARE.

— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) November 3, 2020

As well as providing initial confirmation of the redundancy re-hiring loophole, Martin Lewis then also offered further clarification on a number of questions members of the public were frequently posing to him.

In a follow-up tweet, Mr Lewis wrote: “Just to answer a few common questions on this,

1. Can the firm refuse? Yes it can, furlough is always at the firm’s discretion.

2. I’m new to the firm can I be furloughed? Yes if you were on payroll by 30 October.

3. I was furloughed then taken off it, can I be furloughed again? Yes.”

He also then clarified that the furlough scheme is “currently UK wide” and not just applicable to England, but emphasised that the rules differ within each devolved administration.

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A futher furlough clarification. Many mistakenly thinking furlough is only for Eng. It's not. The scheme is currently UK wide.

The confusion is as Sturgeon is (understandbly) arguing eg if england ends its lockdown and scotland starts one, can furlough continue just for Scot.

— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) November 3, 2020

More information regarding the extension of the furlough scheme ahead of the national lockdown can be found via the MoneySavingExpert website here.