‘Us vs them’ | Avoiding tension when reintegrating furloughed staff

October marks the end of the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which will see employees return to the workplace, likely thanks to the help of the recently announced Job Support Scheme, which has been designed to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to the pandemic.

While these schemes will help to bring staff back to the workplace, tension may have started to build between employees who have continued working and those who have been left to their own devices as a result of being placed on furlough. Research from the ONS revealed that on September 20, 2020, 9.6million employees in the UK were placed on the scheme, clearly indicating the high volume of workers who have been left without work. But for those employees who have been asked to continue working throughout this time, it is possible that a bad taste could be left in their mouths.