More than a third of furloughed employees have been asked by bosses to carry out work while receiving funds under the coronavirus job retention scheme, according to a survey.
The estimated £60 billion furlough scheme is one of the biggest single up-front costs to the Treasury from the coronavirus support given.
Ministers have warned employers would be committing fraud if staff were made to work while furloughed.
But according to a survey by Crossland Employment Solicitors, 34 per cent of employees have been asked to return, despite the fact employers are only allowed to make furlough claims if staff cannot work due to the pandemic.
A third of furloughed employees were asked to carry on doing their usual job, while 29 per cent were told to undertake more administrative tasks. One in five have been asked to either cover someone else's job or to work for a company linked to their employer while on furlough.
The Government had recently announced plans to give employers 30 days to confess any furlough fraud, following concerns the system was being abused.
Legislation is also set to be introduced giving powers to impose penalties and to pursue directors of insolvent companies personally.
The furlough scheme was introduced to avoid wide-scale unemployment as businesses shut under the lockdown and covers 80 per cent of staff salaries up to £2,500 each.
Treasury figures revealed on Tuesday that £20.8 billion had been claimed covering 9.1 million jobs, and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts predict the entire scheme will cost £60 billion.
