The Job Support Scheme which was due to begin on 1st November has now been postponed.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended to the end of March 2021, the government have said that they will review the scheme in January to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers in contribute more towards their employee`s pay.

Small or large employers, charitable or non-profit are all eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme even if they have not used the scheme previously.

Under this extended furlough scheme businesses will be able to furlough any employee who has been on the PAYE scheme before October 30th, 2020 where an RTI submission has been filed for them on or prior to this date.
Companies will be able to bring back furloughed employees on a part-time basis where work hours are available for them or an employee can be furloughed full time.

The employer will claim back the full 80% furlough pay for hours not worked, mirroring what was claimed in August 2020, ERS NI and ERS pension will be payable by the company and cannot be reclaimed from the government. This will be reviewed in January 2021 when companies could need to contribute towards the cost of unworked hours.

Employers can use the scheme to furlough employee`s flexibly or full time for any shift pattern and any amount of time. Hours can be varied in agreement with the employee.

New employee`s (where they meet the claim criteria) will receive 80% of their salary for hours not worked which can be claimed from the government up to a cap of £2,500.00 per month. Employers can then top up the employee`s salary to 100% if they wish to do so.

Employee`s who have been furloughed previously will remain to be furloughed at the same calculation as before the scheme was extended, they can also have their pay topped up to 100% if the employer wishes to do so. Employee`s will receive their full hourly pay for hours worked throughout the pay period.

Employee`s can be furloughed if they are shielding inline with guidance from public health or if they have someone at home who is shielding, and they need to stay home with them. An employee can also be furloughed if they have caring responsibilities that have resulted from Coronavirus, this includes employee`s that need to look after children.

Any employee that was made redundant or stopped working for their employer after 23rd September 2020 but were included in the payroll on or before that date can be re-employed and claimed for as long as the employer made a PAYE RTI Submission to HMRC from March 2020 to September 23rd 2020.

To be eligible for the grant employers will need to confirm this with their employee in writing that they have been furloughed or flexibly furloughed (or with a trade union where a collective agreement is met if necessary)