Extension of the Job Retention Scheme

On 31 October 2020, Boris Johnson announced that the country would move into a second national lockdown from 5 November until 2 December 2020.

On 5 November 2020 the government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) – also referred to as the Furlough Scheme – will now be continuing throughout the period 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021.

The Job Support Scheme (JSS) will be postponed until further notice.

In addition, the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) planned for February 2021 has also been cancelled, but may be revived at a later date.

The CJRS will continue from 1 November until 2 December 2020, but may be extended in line with any extension of the national lockdown restrictions.

How much can be claimed?

Under the newly extended CRJS from 1 November 2020, employers will be able to claim for 80% of an employee’s wages (capped at £2,500 pro rata) for any hours that they do not work. The 80% grant will be reviewed in January 2021.

Employers are free to top up wages for hours not worked to 100% if they wish.

Who is eligible?

All UK employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE scheme can claim through the CJRS (except those who are fully publicly funded).

To be eligible under the extended scheme, an employee must have been on an employer’s PAYE payroll at 23:59 on 30 October 2020. And a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020.

For claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020, employers cannot claim for any days on or after 1 December 2020 during which the furloughed employee was serving a contractual or statutory notice period for the employer (this includes people serving notice of retirement or resignation).

Claim process

Claims will need to cover a minimum period of seven days. Submission of claims opened on 10 November 2020. All claims must be for the same calendar month and each claim must be submitted by the 14th day of the following month (unless that falls on a weekend, in which case it is the next working day). 

If an employer underclaims through the scheme, they can only amend the claim up to 28 days after the month to which the claim relates (unless that falls on a weekend, in which case it is the next working day).

For claims for December onwards, HMRC will publish employer names, an indication of the value of the claim and, for companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) the company registration number of those who have made claims under the scheme.

With multiple wage support schemes being announced, all taking different forms, below helps summarise the support that has been, is and will be available to employers throughout the pandemic.

HMRC will also be improving the information available to furloughed employees by including details of claims made for them, (for claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020) in their Personal Tax Account on GOV.UK.