People are worried about being able to afford essential bills in the coming year. Picture: PA The furlough scheme has been providing employers with 80 per cent of a worker’s salary up to a cap of £2,500 a month. But under the first stage of a gradual scaling back introduced on Thursday, employers must continue to pay 80 per cent of salaries to qualify for the scheme, but they will receive only 70 per cent of that sum from the government, meaning employers have to find 10 per cent of the wage bill themselves. From August until the end of September, when the scheme ends, employers will have to pay at least 20 per cent of a worker’s salary, with the government picking up 60 per cent of the wage.