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People growing vegetables in their garden don’t want to leave furlough, says Leadsom

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Some people don't want to return to work after being on the furlough scheme, Leadsom has said.

Some workers still on furlough do not want to go back to work, former business secretary Andrea Leadsom has said, suggesting the scheme has been “great” for some.

Leadsom said some people, like those with gardens who have been growing vegetables, did not want to leave furlough because it has been “great”.

Others, she said, were afraid of returning to working because they had been on furlough for so long.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions, Leadsom said: “For some people they’re just terrified, so it’s like, ‘I’ve been on furlough for so long I really can’t quite face going back to the office’ and employers are rightly saying, ‘well, you need to’.

“So there’s that issue, the mental health issue, the fear of it.

“For other people, it’s like, ‘well actually being on furlough in lockdown has been great for me – I’ve got a garden, I’ve been able to go out walking every day, I’ve got great vegetables growing, I don’t really want to go back to work, maybe I’ll think about part-time or I’m going to retire early’.”

She added that some businesses in her constituency “simply can’t get people back to work” because ‘staff have become used to being on furlough’, which will have “very real consequences for our economy”.

It is at the discretion of the employer whether staff are put on furlough.

If an employee refuses to return to work after furlough, despite the business having appropriate health and safety measures it place, they could find themselves taking an unauthorised absence, possibly putting their job at risk.

Some 11.5 million jobs have been supported via the furlough scheme, and there were still 3.4 making use of the scheme as of 30 April.

Under the furlough scheme employees receive 80 per cent of their salary for hours not worked, paid for by the government until the end of June.

The government contribution will be gradually tapered off, with employers contributing 10 per cent in July, increasing to 20 per cent in August and September.