*Furlough support has now been extended with the announcement of the second national lockdown – check out our blog on details of the support extension*
The government have made some changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) from 1st July to allow businesses to gradually return their employees to work over the coming months. Effectively the scheme as we know it is due to close from 30th June, and the new flexible furlough scheme will take its place from the 1st July onwards.
The main points to note are as follows:
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Claims to 30th June must be made by 31st July – claims will have a cut off of 30th June, and any claims relating to 1st July onwards must be made in a separate claim from 1st July onwards.
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From the 1st July you can bring employees back to work for any amount of time, and any shift pattern.
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Only employees who have previously completed a full 3 week furlough period between 1st March and 30th June 2020 can be included in the new furlough scheme from 1st July onwards.
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Employees will be paid in full for the hours worked and on furlough for the hours not worked (compared to normal work hours) will be paid at 80%.
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Employees can still be furloughed full time if required – and this also covers employees who are unable to work due to shielding or childcare.
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All changes to furlough leave/working hours will need to be agreed in writing with employees – you can use this agreement template to do so.
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Employer’s can still top up to 100% pay for the whole pay period if they wish.
There are also changes to the amount you can claim under the CJRS as follows:
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July – claim as previous months – 80% of wages capped at £2,500 plus employer NI and statutory pension contributions
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August – claim 80% of wages only – no NI or pension
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September – claim 70% of wages only, capped at £2,187.50 (still pay employee 80%)
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October – claim 60& of wages only, capped at £1,875 (still pay employee 80%)
The scheme will close on 31st October 2020. The new Job Support Scheme will come into affect from the 1st November 2020 for 6 months.
The full HMRC Guidance can be found here.
Check out our Support Hub for more on all the help available during the coronavirus pandemic.
