How many employees are you going to need?

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak was asked a really tough question this week. The interviewer said “Isn’t it the case that many people who have been furloughed have effectively lost their jobs?”. I think we all know that the answer to that is yes.

Because whilst we still wait with bated breath for the details of the extension to the Job Retention Scheme to be announced, with the slight easing of the lockdown most businesses are starting to consider their staffing requirements going forward.

As a result, we have been answering lots of questions this week about staffing decisions. To un-furlough, make redundant, reduce hours or bring back? Some big decisions affecting the lives of people you see as often as some members of your family are going have to be made soon.

We also have been trying to navigate through employment rules with options for bringing staff back to the business from furlough. And sadly we have also had to help businesses who need to start making redundancies or decide that they cannot afford to return to business at all.

To try and cover as many aspects of this as possible have two guides for you now available on our Coronavirus Hub:

We will continue looking at these HR issues in the coming weeks and as soon as we have details about the August to October furlough grant rules, we will provide you with our practical advice on the actions you may need to take.