HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. This is broadly median national salary. Employers can choose to fund the difference between this amount and an employee’s full salary, but there is no need to do so.

All UK businesses will be eligible to participate in the scheme. This includes not only limited companies but also LLPs, partnerships and charities.

Employers will need to:

Employees should not undertake any work for their employer while on furlough. The employee will still be eligible for additional forms of support, including Universal Credit.

We’ll update this page as further details about the scheme become available.

Photograph: “Computer on minimal desk” by Startup Stock Photos

  Tax Increase the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500. Equal pay Introduce private sector equal pay reporting by requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish the difference between the average pay of their male and female employees. Public sector termination payments Introduce new legislation to cap enhanced redundancy payments in the public sector at £95,000. Require repayment of public sector exit payments in certain circumstances. Long-term absence Reduce benefits of those suffering from long-term, treatable conditions if they refuse to follow treatment recommended for them. Volunteering Allow employees working in large companies (employers with more than 250 employees) or the public sector to receive three days’ paid volunteering leave. Pensions Introduce a single-tier pension system.

Photograph: “Houses of Parliament” /© Davoud D.

The consultation’s findings show that many believe if a ban on exclusivity clauses is introduced some employers would seek to get around the restriction by providing employees with contracts that guarantee a few hours’ work. Another key concern was employers who treat zero hours workers poorly where they turn down the chance to work additional hours.

The Government has said it will introduce legislation that allows zero hours workers to make a complaint to an employment tribunal where an employer has treated them poorly because they have worked for another employer. Employers who are found liable for such treatment will have to pay the worker compensation and may receive further fines if their treatment of the worker was particularly severe.

There will also be new legislation to deal with employers who try to get around the ban on exclusivity clauses. All employment contracts will be subject to a ban on exclusivity clauses if the worker’s minimum weekly income is not guaranteed and the rate of pay is less than £20 an hour. The protection against detrimental treatment will also extend to these workers.

One solution proposed during the consultation – to set a threshold on the number of hours that should be worked – was rejected. The Government could not decide on the appropriate number of hours and felt this solution would not provide benefits for either employers or workers. However, a threshold that combines both hours and income may yet be introduced.

The process commences when a mother cuts short her maternity or adoption leave in order to return to work. The other parent then goes on shared parental leave to care of the child. Up to 52 weeks’ shared parental leave may be taken – the same duration as maternity leave or adoption leave. Leave can be taken as one single block of leave or as discontinuous blocks, with parents passing care of the baby back and forth between them. An employee is automatically entitled to take shared parental leave as a continuous block, but an employer may reject a request for discontinuous leave.

Image licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0

The potential headache for employers is the numerous notices and timings which administration of shared parental leave entails. There is also the difficulty of trying to agree two sets of leave arrangements between different employers. It is recommended that employees are encouraged to discuss any plans for shared parental leave as early as possible so that their employers can consider how to accommodate their request.

A number of protections apply to a parent who takes or is thinking of taking shared parental leave. During shared parental leave the employee’s terms and conditions of employment remain unchanged, with the exception of pay. If a redundancy situation arises while the employee is on leave, they should be offered alternative employment ahead of other employees. When leave ends, the employee must return to the same job. If the employee has taken more than 26 weeks’ leave and it is no longer reasonably practicable for them to return to their old job, they must be offered a job that is suitable and appropriate and whose terms and conditions are not less favourable.

Employees have the right not to be dismissed or subjected to detrimental treatment because they have taken or are considering taking shared parental leave. Any such dismissal will be automatically unfair.

If parents opt for shared parental leave, they are entitled to receive up to 39 weeks’ shared parental pay between them. This will be paid at the weekly rate of £139.58.

Employers who offer enhanced maternity pay will need to decide whether they want to offer enhanced shared parental pay as well. The consequences of failing to do so may be a claim for direct or indirect sex discrimination. It is expected that the uptake of shared parental leave will be influenced by whether employers choose to offer enhanced shared parental pay.

The report confirms that many NHS staff are afraid to raise whistleblowing concerns because they fear it would have a negative impact on their career. Staff also lack faith in the whistleblowing system and feel it is futile to raise concerns as they would not be dealt with.

The report lists several action points built around five overarching themes of:

Key proposals:

The response to the Francis Report has been immediate. One of the report’s recommendations was that the scope of whistleblowing legislation be extended to include student nurses and midwives. The Government has announced new legislation coming into force from 6 April 2015 that will allow these staff to receive whistleblowing protection.