COVID-19 Update: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - updated guidance
The HMRC have released further guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). As we covered in our previous article. Rishi Sunak announced on 5 November 2020 that the scheme was to be extended until 31 March 2021.
The updated Guidance contains multiple documents including:
- Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the CJRS
- Check which employees you can put on furlough to use the CJRS; and
- Calculate how much you can claim using the CJRS
There have been some notable features of the extended scheme, set out in the Guidance, including the following:
- Employers can currently claim a grant for furloughed employees who are currently serving their notice periods. However, the guidance states the Government is reviewing whether employers should be eligible to claim for employees serving contractual or statutory notice periods and that they will change the approach on that for claim periods starting after 1 December 2020. That suggests that employers may wish to ensure that they give notice to those who they wish to dismiss, prior to 1 December 2020, if they wish to increase their chances of claiming for notice periods under the scheme………but apparently more information will be provided in further guidance issued at the end of November.
- In a move to presumably reduce fraud the new guidance states that from December 2020, the HMRC will publish employer names for companies and LLPs, the company registration number of those who have made claims under the scheme from December onwards.
- Retrospective furlough agreements can now be agreed between employers and employees backdating to 1 November 2020. However, these must be agreed by 13 November 2020. As per previous rules, employers must confirm in writing to the employee that they have been furloughed, and keep a written record for five years.
- There is no limit on the maximum number of employees an employer can claim for, in any single claim period.
- Employers can claim for employees who were employed on 30 October 2020, as long as they have made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between the 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.
If you require any further advice on this or any other employment matter, then please do not hesitate to contact Jonathan Bruck.
This article is provided for general information purposes only. Although every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this article is accurate, it does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Should you require legal advice, please do not hesitate to contact us.
