UK helps employers with slow phase-in of job shield costs

British finance minister Rishi Sunak offered fresh help to employers hit by the coronavirus shutdown on Friday, announcing that future contributions they must make to the government's costly wage subsidy scheme will be phased in slowly.

In August, companies will only have to make pension and social security payments for the workers they have temporarily laid off while the government will continue to pay 80% of their wages.

Employers would then be asked to pay 10% of the wage costs in September and 20% in October, reducing some of the huge burdens on the public finances but a lighter requirement than reported by media before the announcement.