02.10.2020: Last month of the Furlough Scheme

October is the final month of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, with the following key changes:

• The Government’s grant will fall to 60% of wages, up to the value of £1,875.
• Employers will top up 20% of wages, to ensure that furloughed employees still receive 80% of their wages, up to £2,500.
• Employers need to continue paying employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions.

Job Support Scheme

The Furlough Scheme will be replaced with the Job Support Scheme – this will open on 1st November and run for six months. You can find out more on the Gov.UK website.

01.09.2020: Changes to the Furlough Scheme for September

As noted below, the grant available has been decreasing each month. The key changes for September are:

• The Government will pay 70% of furloughed wages up to cap of £2,187.50 for hours not worked
• Employers will pay 10% of wages to make up to 80% cap of £2,500
• Employers will continue to pay NI and pension contributions

13.07.2020: Furlough Scheme update

The original furlough scheme was due to end at the end of June, but has now been extended until the end of October. From August, the level of grant available will decrease each month.

You can find full details on the UK.Gov website.

Watch Hamish’s short video as he explains what you need to know, then scroll down for a note of the timetable of changes.

Timetable of changes:

For the month of July

• Applies only to previously furloughed employees
• Workers can now return part-time on any agreed hours or shift pattern
• Employers can claim up to 80% of the furloughed salary up to £2,500 as well as NI and pension contributions.
• Only applies for hours not worked, employer must pay employees for the hours they work

August

• Employers will pay Employees NI contributions and pension contributions
• Government will pay up to 80% of furloughed employees wages up to cap of £2,500 for hours not worked

September

• Government will pay 70% of furloughed wages up to cap of £2,187.50 for hours not worked
• Employers will pay 10% of wages to make up to 80% cap of £2,500, plus employers NI and pension

October

• Government will pay 60% of furloughed wages up to cap of £1,875 for hours not worked
• Employers will pay 20% of wages to make up to 80% cap of £2,500, plus employers NI and pension

13.07.2020 Job Retention Bonus

The Job Retention Bonus Scheme will pay a potential one-off payment of £1,000 to employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021.

The payment is a bonus for employers, not a bonus for employees. This is different from furlough as employers had to pass on the furlough grant to employees)

To Qualify:

• Employers get £1,000 for each employee they bring back to work from furlough.
• The employee has to be continuously employed through to the end of January 2021 and earn an average of £520 per month over that period (the lower earnings limit for benefits).
• The bonus will be paid from February 2021.
• The bonus amount is the same for each employee irrespective of their salary.

08.06.2020: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is changing

• The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will close to new entrants from 30th June 2020. Any employees who have not previously been furloughed must be furloughed for at least a three-week period prior to the 30th June in order to qualify after this date.
• From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant for their normal hours not worked.
• When claiming the grant for furloughed hours employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week.
• Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.
• Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims will be published on 12 June.

You can find full details on the UK.Gov website.

02.06.2020: Update to the Job Retention Furlough Scheme

Here’s a summary of the key things you need to know:

• From 1 July employers have the flexibility to take back employees part time
• It is the business owner / firm that will decide the hours and shift patterns their employees will work on their return,  and who will be responsible for paying employee wages while in work.
• Remember that Employment Law still stands, and it is the employers duty to ensure there are safe work practices in place
• June and July: the Government pays 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 as well as employer National Insurance (ER NICS) and pension contributions. Employers are not required to pay anything.
• August: The Government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions
• September: The Government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 10% of wages to make up 80% total up to a cap of £2,500.
• October: The Government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 20% of wages to make up 80% total up to a cap of £2,500.

16.04.2020: Reclaiming furloughed staff salaries – instructions from HMRC

The HMRC portal to reclaim furloughed staff’s salaries will open on Monday (20th April). HMRC have now issued further instructions and details for those with furloughed employees.

We are here to help if we can, however, be aware that everybody will be trying to access the site at the same time, so it may take a few days before you get your claims processed.

Change to employee eligibility

There is an important change to the scheme relating to employee eligibility:

• you can claim for employees that were employed as of 19 March 2020 and were on your PAYE payroll on or before that date; this means that you will have made an RTI submission notifying us of payment of that employee on or before 19 March 2020
• employees that were employed as of 28 February 2020 and on payroll (i.e. notified to us on an RTI submission on or before 28 February) and were made redundant or stopped working for you after that, and prior to 19 March 2020, can also qualify for the scheme if you re-employ them and put them on furlough.

How to claim

As you prepare to make a claim, please note:

• the online claim service will be launched on GOV.UK on 20 April 2020 – please do not try to access it before this date as it won’t be available
• the only way to make a claim is online – the service should be simple to use and any support you need available on GOV.UK; this will include help with calculating the amount you can claim
• you can make the claim yourself even if you usually use an agent
• claims will be paid within 6 working days; you should not contact HMRC unless it is absolutely necessary – any queries should be directed to your agent, representative or HMRC’s webchat service
• HMRC cannot answer any queries from employees – they will need to raise these with you, as their employer, directly.

Information you will need before you make a claim

In addition to the information in our previous email, you will need to have the following before 20 April 2020:

• a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if you don’t already have a GG account, you can apply for one online, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘HMRC services: sign in or register’
• be enrolled for PAYE online – if you aren’t registered yet, you can do so now, or by going toGOV.UK and searching for ‘PAYE Online for employers’
• the following information for each furloughed employee you will be claiming for:

1. Name
2. National Insurance number
3. Claim period and claim amount
4. PAYE/employee number (optional)

• if you have fewer than 100 furloughed staff – you will need to input information directly into the system for each employee

If you want an agent (that’s us) to act for you

Please note:

• agents authorised to act for you on PAYE matters can make the claim on your behalf using their ID and password
• you will need to tell your agent which UK bank account you want the grant to be paid into, in order to ensure funds are paid as quickly as possible to you. (HMRC will assume this is your main bank account, if they don’t have this they will contact you.)

You should retain all records and calculations in respect of your claims.