Make a late Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claim

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ended on 30 September 2021. 14 October 2021 was the last date to make a claim for September.

For claim periods from 1 November 2020, HMRC may accept late claims or amendments if you have:

1. Taken reasonable care to try and claim on time.
2. A reasonable excuse.
3. Claimed as soon as your reasonable excuse no longer applies.

A reasonable excuse could include:

• your partner or another close relative died shortly before the claim deadline
• you had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented you from dealing with your claim
• you had a serious or life-threatening illness, including coronavirus (COVID-19) related illnesses, which prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could claim for you)
• a period of self-isolation prevented you from making your claim (and no one else could make the claim for you)
• your computer or software failed just before or while you were preparing your online claim
• service issues with HMRC online services prevented you from making your claim
• a fire, flood or theft prevented you them from making your claim
• postal delays that you could not have predicted prevented you from making your claim
• delays related to a disability you have prevented you from making your claim
• an HMRC error prevented you from making your claim

As soon as you are ready to make a late claim or amendment, you need to:

1. Check if you have a reasonable excuse.
2. Make sure you have all the information you need to process your claim.
3. Contact HMRC using the helpline to check with an advisor if you can claim.

If your reasonable excuse is accepted, the advisor will process your claim over the phone.

See: Make a late Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claim - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/make-a-late-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-claim)

6th August 2021 – Hillmans Weekly Update

Below I have summarised all the main tax related updates we have seen this week.

• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Update
• Self-Employment Income Support Scheme update
• Abolition of Basis Periods and New Tax Year End?
• MTD Coming Soon for Income Tax

If you have any queries about this week’s content, or if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope you have a great weekend. 

Stay safe and well. 

Cheers,

Steve

Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Update

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30 September 2021. From 1 August 2021, the government will pay 60% of wages up to a maximum cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough.

Claims for furlough days in July 2021 must be made by 16 August 2021.

How to report grant payments in Real Time Information

Find out how to report Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant payments on Real Time Information submissions: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/reporting-payments-in-paye-real-time-information-from-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Tax Treatment of the Coronavirus Job Retention Grant

Payments you have received under the scheme are to offset the deductible revenue costs of your employees. You must include them as income when you calculate your taxable profits for Income Tax and Corporation Tax purposes.

Businesses can deduct employment costs as normal when calculating taxable profits for Income Tax and Corporation Tax purposes.

Individuals with employees that are not employed as part of a business (such as nannies or other domestic staff) are not taxable on grants received under the scheme. Domestic staff are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on their wages as normal.

See more here: Claim for wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Paying CJRS Grants Back

If you have claimed too much through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, or you would like to make a voluntary repayment because you do not want or need the grant to pay your employees’ wages, tax and National Insurance and pension contributions, you can either:

• correct it in your next claim (your new claim will be reduced, and you’ll need to keep a record of the adjustment for 6 years)
• get a payment reference number and pay HMRC back within 30 days (only if you’re not correcting it in your next claim)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-grants-back

Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme from July 2021

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30 September 2021 and the level of grant available to employers under the scheme will stay the same until 30 June 2021.

The current version of the furlough scheme that started on 1 November 2020 was scheduled to end on 30 April 2020. In order to avoid a “cliff-edge” with resulting widespread redundancies the chancellor has announced a further extension of the scheme and also a phased reduction in support to employers. The CJRS furlough grant for May and June will remain at 80% of the employees’ usual pay for hours not working.

From 1 July 2021, the level of grant will be reduced, and you will be asked to contribute towards the cost of your furloughed employees’ wages. To be eligible for the grant you must continue to pay your furloughed employees 80% of their wages, up to a cap of £2,500 per month for the time they spend on furlough.

The scheme will then be limited to 70% for July and then 60% for August and September. This phased reduction will operate in a similar way as in September and October 2020 with the employer being required to contribute the remaining 10% and then 20% of an employee’s regular pay so that they continue to receive 80% pay for furloughed hours.

In addition to the 10% and 20% contributions employers will continue to be responsible for paying employers national insurance and pension contributions on the full amount being paid to employees.

The table below shows the level of government contribution available in the coming months, the required employer contribution and the amount that the employee receives per month where the employee is furloughed 100% of the time.

Wage caps are proportional to the hours not worked.

Please contact us if you want an estimate of the claim or you need help in applying.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme/

5th February 2021 – Hillmans Weekly Update

Below I have summarised all the main tax related updates we have seen this week.

• Budget Day is 3rd March
• Pension Tax Relief Under the Spotlight
• How trading conditions affect eligibility for the Self-Employment Grant
• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30 April 2021
• Get Ready For New Off-Payroll Working Rules (IR35)

If you have any queries about this week’s content, or if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Stay safe and well.

Cheers,

Steve

Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA
Chartered Accountant
Tel: 01934 444100

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30 April 2021

If you cannot maintain your workforce because your operations have been affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), you can furlough employees and apply for a grant to cover a portion of their usual monthly wage costs where you record them as being on furlough.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended until 30 April 2021. You can claim 80% of an employee’s usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

You can claim for employees who were employed on 30 October 2020, as long as you 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. This may differ where you have made employees redundant, or they stopped working for you on or after 23 September 2020 and you have subsequently re-employed them.

All employers with a UK, Isle of Man or Channel Island bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. You do not need to have previously claimed for an employee before the 30 October 2020 to claim.

Employers can furlough employees for any amount of time and any work pattern, while still being able to claim the grant for the hours not worked. Employers must pay for employer National Insurance contributions and pension costs.

Claims for furlough days in January 2021 must be made by 15 February 2021. You can no longer submit claims for claim periods ending on or before 31 October 2020.

Talk to us about helping you claim a CJRS grant – we have been helping our clients for many months and we can estimate claims in advance to help your cash flow planning.

See:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Example Board Meeting Minutes to Furlough Staff Outlining Reasoning

Any CJRS Furlough claim may be subject to HMRC retrospective audit and therefore it makes sense to note the date and reasons for the Furlough decision. We appreciate that it will be obvious for some businesses (Government orders closure) but for some businesses especially Director / Shareholder businesses it is prudent to note details. This will also serve as evidence of the date of the decision.

Please feel free to use and edit the sample board meeting minutes as you see fit for your business.

==============================================================

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Name of Company or LLP or business:
Company Registration number:  

Date:

Present:

The Director(s) met to discuss the Corona Covid-19 Pandemic and the effect of the Government Actions regarding restrictions on movement and closure of workplaces.

The Director(s) note that the business is unable to trade / has reduced or restricted trade / severe decline in turnover / supply chain broken / employee(s) unable to travel to work / work inside etc. (edit as applicable) whilst the lock-down is in place and have therefore Furloughed the following Directors and employees as per The Corona Virus Job Retention Scheme from 1 November (as applicable) 2020. 

The Board / partners / owners also noted that they had discussed and agreed changes in employment conditions with employees all who were subject to Furlough or flexible Furlough.

The Directors noted some employees will be able to work during the [lockdown / immediate period / next month] and have engaged their accountants XYZ & Co. to record the details and make the flexible / full furlough claims to HMRC as required. 

(See list attached to this Board Minute or detail name and employee reference number below – if applicable). 

Signed: Secretary /Chairman of the Board / Director (as applicable)

Date:

==============================================================

Furlough Guidance for Employers

If you are Furloughing employees from 1 November then you must agree any changes in their terms of employment with them in advance.

Employers should discuss with their staff and make any changes to the employment contract by agreement. When employers are making decisions in relation to the process, including deciding who to offer furlough to, equality and discrimination laws will apply in the usual way.

To be eligible for the grant, employers must have confirmed to their employee (or reached collective agreement with a trade union) in writing that they have been furloughed. You must:

• make sure that the agreement is consistent with employment, equality and discrimination laws
• keep a written record of the agreement for five years
• keep records of how many hours your employees work and the number of hours they are furloughed (i.e. not working)

The employee does not have to provide a written response and you do not need to place all your employees on furlough.

You can:

• Fully furlough employees - they cannot undertake any work for you while furloughed full time
• Flexibly furlough employees - they can work for any amount of time, and any work pattern but they cannot do any work for you during hours that you record them as being on furlough

If you flexibly furlough employees, you will need to agree this with the employee (or reach collective agreement with a trade union) and keep a new written agreement that confirms the new furlough arrangement. You will need to:

• make sure that the agreement is consistent with employment, equality and discrimination laws
• keep a written record of the agreement for five years
• keep records of how many hours your employees work and the number of hours they are furloughed (i.e. not working).

Employees cannot undertake any work for you during time that you record them as being on furlough.

Where consistent with employment law, any flexible furlough or furlough agreement made retrospectively that has effect from 1 November 2020 will be valid for the purposes of a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claim as long as it is made according to the conditions above. Only retrospective agreements put in place up to and including the 13 November 2020 may be relied on for the purposes of a claim.

See:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#agreeing-to-furlough-employees

13th November 2020 – Hillmans Weekly Update

I hope you are keeping safe and well.

13^th November 2020 – Hillmans Weekly Update

 

Below I have summarised all the main tax related updates we have seen this week.

 

·         North Somerset Local Restrictions Support Grant – Applications Open from Friday 13th November

·         HMRC Published Details of the Extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

·         The Future Fund

·         Information for farmers, landowners and rural businesses form the Rural Payments Agency (RPA)

·         The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) fast-tracks grants to help England’s ports and fishing industry

 

If you have any queries about this week’s content, or if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

I hope you have a good weekend.

 

Stay safe and well.

 

Kind regards,

 

Steve

 

Steven Hillman BSc (Hons) ACA

Chartered Accountant

Tel: 01934 444100

https://www.hillmans.co.uk/covid-19-updates

Furlough Scheme Extension

“FURLOUGH” SCHEME EXTENDED AT 80% USUAL PAY

On 22 October the Chancellor announced that the CJRS “furlough” scheme would end on 31 October 2020 to be replaced by a new Job Support Scheme (JSS). However, at 6.45 pm on 31 October 2020 when the Prime Minister announced a month long lockdown for England he announced that the CJRS furlough scheme would be extended for one further month with employers able to claim a grant of 80% of employees’ usual pay for hours that they are unable to work. Employers will be responsible for paying NICs and pension costs.

The replacement JSS will start when the extended CJRS ends.

JOB SUPPORT SCHEME (JSS)

The JSS scheme that replaces CJRS was originally announced in September.

It has been made more generous than in the original announcement to support businesses that are legally forced to close their premises as a direct result of Coronavirus restrictions imposed by one of the four UK governments. This is referred to as JSS Closed. 

For those employers that are able operate safely but continue to face reduced demand such that they may need extra support over the winter to help keep their employees attached to their workforce there is JSS Open. That scheme has been made more generous to encourage employers to keep their employees in a job on shorter hours rather than making them redundant.

JSS Open and JSS Closed were originally scheduled to commence on 1 November 2020 and will now commence when the extended CJRS scheme ends and will run until the end of April 2021.

JSS OPEN

Grants under JSS Open will be available to support the wages of employees working part time who were on the payroll on 23 September 2020 and subject to an RTI submission on or before that date.

The original proposal was that they would need to work at least 33% of their usual hours to be eligible but this has now been reduced to 20%.

For the hours not worked the employee must be paid 2/3 of their normal pay with the employer being responsible for 5% (previously 1/3) of this amount with the government providing a grant for the remaining 61.67%.

The employer will be responsible for national insurance costs and pension costs on the full amount paid to the employee.

The maximum government contribution will be £1,541.75 per month. This will ensure employees continue to receive at least 73% of their normal wages, where they earn £3,125 a month or less.

JSS CLOSED

Grants under JSS Closed will be available to support the wages of employees of businesses required to close who like JSS Open are on the payroll on 23 September 2020.

Claims can be made for employees who cannot work as a result of the Tier 3 or similar restrictions. Employers must be instructed to cease work for at least 7 days to qualify. Employers must agree the new scheme with the relevant staff and make changes to their contract of employment.

JSS CLOSED GRANT IS 2/3RDS OF “NORMAL PAY”

Where employees are paid at least 2/3rds of their normal pay for hours not worked the Government will pay a grant of 2/3ds of their normal pay subject to a maximum of £2,083.33 a month. The employer will be responsible for paying national insurance and pension costs in respect of the employee.

When the business premises reopen employers will be able to claim the JSS Open grant towards the employee’s wages for hours not worked provided the employee works at least 20% of their usual hours.

The employee cannot be made redundant or put on notice of redundancy during the period during which the employer is claiming the grant.

CJRS Update

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grant claim changes again 1st September. Please talk to us if you would like us to help estimate your claim.

- From 1 September CJRS will pay 70% of usual wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 per month for the hours furloughed employees do not work.

- You will still need to pay your furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. You will need to fund the difference between this and the CJRS grant yourself.

- The caps are proportional to the hours not worked. For example, if your employee is furloughed for half their usual hours in September, you are entitled to claim 70% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work up to £1,093.75 (50% of the £2,187.50 cap).

- You will continue to have to pay furloughed employees’ National Insurance (NI) and pension contributions from your own funds.

What to do if you've claimed too much or not enough from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The Government has updated its guidance if an employer has claimed too much or not enough from the CJRS. 

If you have claimed too much

If you want to delete a claim in the online service, you must do this within 72 hours.

If you have made an error in a claim that means you’ve received too much, you must pay this back to HMRC. You can either:

• tell HMRC as part of your next online claim (your new claim will be reduced and you’ll need to keep a record of the adjustment for 6 years)

• contact HMRC to pay the money back (you should only do this if you’re not submitting another claim)

If you’ve overclaimed a grant and have not repaid it, you must notify HMRC by the latest of either:

• 90 days after the date you received the grant you were not entitled to

• 90 days after the date you received the grant that you were no longer entitled to keep because your circumstances changed

• 20 October 2020

If you do not do this, you may have to pay a penalty. If you do repay any overclaimed grant, this will prevent any potential tax liability in respect of the overpayment of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. HMRC have advised they will not be actively looking for innocent errors in their compliance approach.

If you have not claimed enough

If you made an error in your claim that has resulted in receiving too little money, you will still need to make sure you pay your employees the correct amount. You should contact HMRC to amend your claim and as you are increasing the amount of your claim and they may need to conduct additional checks.

See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/if-youve-claimed-too-much-or-not-enough-from-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - A Reminder

From September 1, the government grant towards the employee wages will be reduced to 70%. From October 1, the government grant will be reduced again to 60%. During these months’ employers will be asked to contribute towards the cost of their furloughed employees’ wages to ensure they continue to receive at least 80% of their wages for the time they are on furlough.

You cannot claim for:

• additional National Insurance or pension contributions you make because you choose to top up your employee’s wages
• your employees’ wages for any time they spend working, or any National Insurance or pension contributions you make on these wages
• any pension contributions you make that are above the mandatory employer contribution

You can choose to top up your employees’ wages above the minimum furlough pay amount, but you do not have to. Employees must not work or provide any services for the business during hours which they are recorded as being on furlough, even if they receive a top-up wage.

Please talk to us if you need assistance in making these claims. 

See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/calculate-how-much-you-can-claim-using-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Update

CORONAVIRUS JOB RETENTION SCHEME (CJRS) - INDIVIDUALS YOU CAN CLAIM FOR WHO ARE NOT EMPLOYEES

From 1st July “Flexible Furlough” was introduced and the calculations and time recording of full-time, part-time and fully furloughed employees has become more complicated. 

Changes are occurring regularly as the Government and HMRC make clarifications to the scheme. If you have any queries regarding your claim talk to us first.

The latest changes are outlined below:

Steps to take before calculating your claim using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Wording has been added to make it clear that HMRC will not decline or seek repayment of any grant based solely on the particular choice between fixed or variable approach to calculating usual hours, as long as a reasonable choice is made

See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/steps-to-take-before-calculating-your-claim-using-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme?utm_source=e431e0b9-f22e-4543-b2b9-01c631e87961&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

HMRC has issued further guidance on the CJRS Individuals you can claim for who are not employees:

You can claim a grant for individuals who are not employees - as long as they’re paid via PAYE. The groups you can claim for include:

• office holders (including company directors)

• salaried members of Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)

• agency workers (including those employed by umbrella companies)

• limb (b) workers

• Contingent workers in the public sector

• Contractors with public sector engagements in scope of IR35 off-payroll working rules (IR35)

Individuals who are paid through PAYE but not necessarily employees in employment law, can continue to be furloughed from 1 July as long as you have previously submitted a claim for them for a furlough period of at least 3 weeks between 1 March and 30 June 2020.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individuals-you-can-claim-for-who-are-not-employees?utm_source=1cc1078c-073c-45c9-a179-daa90bd46bb3&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

Paying employee taxes and pension contributions

There is also an update on ‘Paying employee taxes and pension contributions’ section and added wording to section on employee rights to make it clear that you can continue to claim for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period.

See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme?utm_source=0d23eb32-d558-4713-ba3e-58ea7cf51edb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

The process HMRC is developing to recover overclaimed grant amounts through the tax system

Information has been added about the process HMRC is developing to recover overclaimed grant amounts through the tax system.

If you have made an error in a claim and do not plan to submit further claims, you should contact HMRC to let them know about the error and find out how to pay back any overclaimed amounts. Once you have contacted HMRC you will be given a payment reference number and directed to make a payment.

The Government are introducing legislation to recover overclaimed grant amounts through the tax system. If you repay any overclaimed grant amounts back through the above methods then this will reduce or, if the full amount is repaid, prevent any potential tax liability under that legislation. Further guidance on this will be issued in due course.

If you have made an error that has resulted in an underclaimed amount, you should contact HMRC to amend your claim. As you are increasing the amount of your claim, they need to conduct additional checks.

See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme?utm_source=5334b049-902e-4fdd-bfc2-9a7c1c222c4c&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate

Please talk to us about CJRS claims – we have an information collection spreadsheet to help you and we can estimate your claim ahead of making it.

Repaying Job Retention Scheme Grants

We recently had a client ask us if its possible to repay the grant they received from the Job Retention Scheme, as the impact of COVID-19 on their business was not as bad as originally expected. You may have seen in the press some larger companies promising to repay the JRS grant also.

We have spoken to HMRC and at present their official stance is that they are not expecting or encouraging any business to repay the JRS grant. Indeed as mentioned last week, there is no facility for this to be repaid even if a business wanted to. 

For businesses who want to repay the JRS grant our advice is to hold fire until the long-term impact of COVID-19 is better understood. By then HMRC will have updated guidance on how repayments can be made should you wish to do so. 

Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

HMRC have now published details on how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will change from 1st July.

Important upcoming furlough dates: 

• The scheme will close to anyone who hasn’t been furloughed for 3 weeks by 30th June.

• The first time you will be able to make claims for days in July will be 1st July, you cannot claim for periods in July before this point.

• From 1 July, employers can bring furloughed employees back to work for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for the hours not worked.

• The 31st July is the last day that you can submit claims for periods ending on or before 30th June.

• From 1 August 2020, the level of grant will be reduced each month. To be eligible for the grant employers must pay furloughed employees 80% of their wages, up to a cap of £2,500 per month for the time they are being furloughed.

• For September, the government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and top up employees’ wages to ensure they receive 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, for time they are furloughed.

• For October, the government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and top up employees’ wages to ensure they receive 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, for time they are furloughed.

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will close on 31 October 2020.

If an error is made in a CJRS claim that means you received too much money, you must pay this back to HMRC. You can notify HMRC of this online in the application system.

If you made an error in a CJRS claim and do not plan to submit further claim, HMRC are looking to update the system so you can make the notification online. This facility is not yet in place. 

You must keep records of all furlough claims for 6 years.

You can read more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme/changes-to-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

If you need any help with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme please drop us a line. 

Weekly Update 5th June 2020

Weekly Update 5th June 2020

Below I have summarised all the main tax related updates we have seen this week. 

• Deadline for applying for the Discretionary Grants Fund – 8th June 2020

• Part Time Furloughing and Key Date of the 10th June 2020

• Defer your Self Assessment payment on account due to coronavirus

• Our Worle office is now reopen!

I’m away from the office on annual leave next week for a bit of home DIY and garage tidy-up, but if you need any support or advice please do not hesitate to contact the team. 

I hope you have a great weekend!

Stay safe and well. 

Best wishes,

Steve

Steven Hillman ACA

Chartered Accountant

Tel: 01934 444100

https://www.hillmans.co.uk/covid-19-updates 

Part Time Furloughing and Key Date of the 10th June 2020

Key Date - 10th June 2020

Following the Governments update for the furlough scheme on Friday, a key date has been updated, the 10th June 2020.

Its important to note the furlough scheme will close to new entrants from the 30th June 2020. From this date onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3 week period prior to 30th June 2020.

This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10th June 2020, in order for the current 3 week furlough period to be completed by the 30th June.

Employers will have until 31st July 2020 to make any claims in respect of the period to the 30th June.

Part Time Furloughing

From 1st July 2020, employers using the scheme will have the flexibility to bring previously furloughed employees back to work part time – with the government continuing to pay 80% of wages for any of their normal hours they do not work up until the end of August. This flexibility comes a month earlier than previously announced to help people get back to work.

Employers will decide the hours and shift patterns their employees will work on their return and will be responsible for paying their wages in full while working. This means that employees can work as much or as little as the business needs, with no minimum time that they can furlough staff for.

Any working hours arrangement agreed between a business and their employee must cover at least one week and be confirmed to the employee in writing. When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week. They can choose to make claims for longer periods such as on monthly or two weekly cycles if preferred. Employers will be required to submit data on the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period and actual hours worked.

If employees are unable to return to work, or employers do not have work for them to do, they can remain on furlough and the employer can continue to claim the grant for their full hours under the existing rules.

Chancellor extends furlough scheme until October

The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain open until the end of October, the Chancellor announced this afternoon (Tuesday 12th May 2020).

Furloughed workers across UK will continue to receive 80% of their current salary, up to £2,500. 

From the start of August, furloughed workers will be able to return to work part-time with employers being asked to pay a percentage towards the salaries of their furloughed staff.

The employer payments will substitute the contribution the government is currently making, ensuring that staff continue to receive 80% of their salary, up to £2,500 a month. 

Our interpretation is that Government will contribute 60% and the employers will contribute 20%. We will keep you up to date with any developments when we receive confirmation.