This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Allow essential workers to go on furlough.
Private businesses that fall under essential care such as opticians have been told they are not able to be furloughed as we are considered essential. However, as business dwindles further and further down.
More details
We would like for the government to allow private businesses that fall under the essential care category to be able to go on furlough as the only options available are to lay staff off or to cut the hours.
The previous furlough worked well for the business but the current system where essential workers are not able to go on to the scheme.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is for employers who cannot maintain their workforce because their operations have been affected by coronavirus. The scheme is open to any private businesses whose operations have been affected by coronavirus, irrespective of whether they are able to remain open.
The main exception to this is if a business has staff costs that are publicly funded (even if you’re not in the public sector), in which case businesses should use that money to continue paying their staff.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.