A change to the coronavirus job retention scheme will come into force for employers from August 1.
The furlough scheme, which has seen the government pay the wages of millions of workers throughout the coronavirus pandemic, will come to an end on October 31.
Until then, changes on how much employers must contribute to the pay of furloughed workers will be brought in at the start of each month.
Little will be changing for furloughed workers, who are still entitled to the same amount, but employers will be required to start contributing more each month until the scheme closes.
Changes from the start of this month meant that employers could bring furloughed staff back for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still benefiting from the scheme.
Wage caps are proportional to the hours an employee is furloughed.
That means that if an employee is placed on furlough for 60 per cent of their usual hours, they are entitled to 60 per cent of the £2,500 cap.
From August 1, employers will need to start paying ER NICs and pension contributions for the hours the employee is on furlough - but the government will continue to pay 80 per cent of wages up to a cap of £2,500 for the hours an employee is on furlough.
Employers can also continue to top up employee wages to above the 80 per cent if they wish.
From September 1, employers will start contributing towards wage payments - with a 10 per cent contribution in September and a 20 per cent contribution in October.
Earlier this month, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that firms that bring back furloughed workers will be awarded £1,000 per employee as part of a jobs retention scheme bonus.
He unveiled the measure as part of an emergency package of support to help keep people in work as the coronavirus economic crisis hits.
The latest figures show that at least 9.3 million people in the UK have been furloughed since the start of the pandemic.
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