Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday evening, England will enter a second national lockdown on 5 November in a bid to prevent a “medical and moral disaster” for the NHS.

Pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops have been instructed to close for four weeks from Thursday, but unlike the restrictions in spring, schools, colleges and universities can stay open. To financially support businesses through this lockdown, it was announced that the furlough scheme will be extended until at least December, just hours before it was due to end.

To the relief of many business owners, this financial assistance will provide much-needed financial support to those forced to close so near to Christmas, hopefully helping to avoid further redundancies. The furlough scheme, which will pay up to 80% of employees’ wages, is a far more generous scheme in comparison to the ‘Job Support Scheme’ that was initially set to replace it, which offered very little financial support to both employers and employees.

With so few details confirmed during the initial announcement, our Employment Law Director James Tamm is hosting a free 30-minute Q&A based on what we know so far, to give you the clarity and you need to make difficult workforce decisions.

Register for this free session and submit your questions using the form opposite.