Extended: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Update

As you know, Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (also known as the furlough scheme) will remain open until 31 March 2021. For claim periods running to January 2021, employees will receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The percentages for February and March will be reviewed by the Government on 31 January 2021.

Full guidance was updated on 10 November 2020 with more guidance to be published in late November.  However, these are the points that we have picked in in the two publications (Check which employees you can put on furlough and Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages):

1. From 1 November 2020, employers can claim 80% of an employees usual salary for hours not worked up to a maximum of £2,500 per month;
2. Employers can fully furlough or flexibly furlough employees; 
3. Employers can claim for those employees who were employed on 30 October 2020 as long as they have made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020 notifying a payment of earnings for that employee, unless they re-employed an employee after 23 September 2020;
4. As before, the employer must confirm in writing to the employee that they have been furloughed and keep that written record for five years;
5. Employers can retrospectively agree to furlough an employee with effect from 1 November 2020, as long as the agreement to retrospectively claim furlough occurs on or before 13 November 2020;
6. The position on redundancy and notice is less clear, the government is reviewing whether employers should be eligible to claim for employees serving either contractual or statutory notice periods and will change the approach for those claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020.  Further guidance on this will be issued in late November 2020. So for now, if an employer is contemplating dismissal whether that be for reason of redundancy or otherwise, employers need to ensure that notice is given before 1 December 2020; and
7. From December 2020, HMRC will publish names of employers for companies and LLP’s and the company registration number of those who have made claims under the scheme for the month of December onwards.

If you require any advice or assistance with the extended furlough scheme, please contact Emma-Louise Hewitt on 0808 166 8860.