Taking to Twitter, Der Touristik UK chief executive Derek Jones shared that a member of staff who had recently resigned to go and work for another retailer had contacted him with a link to a video by MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis, which suggested that as she was still working for Kuoni on 28 February the operator could put her into furlough, as it could if she was still working for them. 

Jones continued: “A quick check of our HR records showed that there were a few other staff in a very similar position who’d all resigned on good terms. 

“So we called them all and offered to put them into furlough. They were totally chuffed.”

MoneySavingExpert.com posted on its website late last week that the government has agreed to change its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme guidance.

Thanks to Lewis’s campaign, firms can rehire and furlough those who left their job for a new job that then fell through due to Covid-19. They must have been on the payroll on 28 February.

Jones added on Twitter: “They (the former employees) couldn’t believe that a business they had resigned from would proactively try to help them this way… but they’ve all given us years of loyal service, and they’d left to further their careers. Through no fault of their own, they’d just picked an awful time to do it.

“There must be hundreds of people, if not thousands, in a similar position with other companies. So if you’re a CEO why not at least ask the question of HR? You never know, you could really make a difference.”

Speaking to TTG, Jones added he did not want any credit, and instead praised the government and Martin for his “persistence”.