ONS statistics show that, due to the furlough scheme, over two million employees were paid below the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2020

A new report released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals that just over two million jobs were paying less than the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage as a result of employees on furlough. This roughly affected 7.2 per cent of jobs in the UK.

This was a direct result of the furlough scheme (officially called the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) which saw the Government funding 80 per cent of wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. Employers were allowed to top up wages to their normal levels but were not required to, leading to some employees earning less than the national threshold.

The jobs that did not see their employer top up their wages were generally in the bottom 10 per cent of the pay distribution.

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