Jun 1st, 2020
6 mins
Updated 01/06/2020 – The Chancellor previously announced that the Government’s Job Retention Scheme will continue until the end of October; allowing furloughed workers to receive 80 per cent of their current salary, up to a ceiling of £2,500 per month. In addition, 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. Further to this he announced on 29th May 2020 that throughout June and July the taxpayer will continue to pay 80% of furlough employee wages to a maximum of £2500 a month. After that employers will be asked to contribute as follows:
- August employers would then be asked to pay national insurance (NI) and pension contributions,
- September employers would then pay NI, pension contributions and 10% of the employee wage,
- October employers would then pay NI, pension contribution and 20% of the employee wage,
- End October the scheme ends.
The chancellor also spoke about greater flexibility in the scheme as from 1st July. We will keep members updated as and when more specific details and information around its implementation are made available.
The Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme is a temporary scheme open to all UK employers. It provides financial assistance with an aim of retaining employees for an extended period and whilst this does not provide work, it does avoids layoffs. It involves employers designating their employees as ’furloughed workers’ which means temporarily changing the status of employees, so they do not work but are still retained on your books and brought back to work when required.
Employers can use the grant to cover 80% of furloughed employees wages to a maximum of £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage.
An employee must be furloughed for a minimum of 3 weeks for you to be able to receive the grant. You can designate an employee more than once which means they could return to work after the period of at least 3 weeks to perform some work and then designate them as furloughed again. There does not have to be any gap between furloughed periods.
Any UK organisation with employees can apply, including:
- businesses
- charities
- recruitment agencies (agency workers paid through PAYE)
- public authorities
The government has extended the cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. You can now furlough anyone who was employed by you on or before the 19 March 2020 and can be on any type of contract, including:
- full-time employees
- part-time employees
- employees on agency contracts
How to claim
The mechanism for claiming under the job retention scheme is now available online:
- employees on flexible or zero-hour contracts
Working for a different employer
If contractually allowed, your employees are permitted to work for another employer whilst you have placed them on furlough. For any employer that takes on a new employee, the new employer should ensure they complete the starter checklist form correctly. If the employee is furloughed from another employment, they should complete Statement C.
Please see full guidance on how to receive the government grant:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
