What We Know
Following the lockdown measures announced by the Government on 31 October 2020 that are due to take eff ect on 5 November, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) which was due to end on 31 October 2020, will be extended until December.
The Job Support Scheme which was due to take effect from 1 November has now been postponed.
Under the CJRS, HMRC will reimburse up to 80% of “furloughed worker” wage costs of up to £2,500 a month. Under this extended CJRS, the employer is not required to contribute towards the 80% salary cost but will be responsible for the associated employer national insurance costs and pension contributions.
As per the previous CJRS, businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time.
Who is Eligible?
Employers
- All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.
- The government expects that publicly funded organisations will not use the scheme, as has already been the case for CJRS, but partially publicly funded organisations may be eligible where their private revenues have been disrupted. All other eligibility requirements apply to these employers.
Employers
- To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30th October 2020.
- Employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.
- Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.
- When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.
- Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.
- For worked hours, employees will be paid by their employer subject to their employment contract and employers will be responsible for paying the tax and NICs due on those amounts.
What support is being provided and employer costs:
- For hours not worked by the employee, the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. The grant must be paid to the employee in full.
- Employers will pay employer NICs and pension contributions, and should continue to pay the employee for hours worked in the normal way.
What support is being provided and employer costs (continued):
- As with the current CJRS, employers are still able to choose to top up employee wages above the scheme grant at their own expense if they wish.
- The Government will confirm shortly when claims can first be made in respect of employee wage costs during November, but there will be no gap in eligibility for support between the previously announced end-date of CJRS and this extension.
Anticipated Availability
The scheme takes effect from 1 November. Further details, including how to claim this extended support through an updated claims service, will be provided shortly.
Useful Links
Furlough Scheme Extended and Further Economic Support Announced (UK.GOV)
