The flexible furlough scheme has now been extended until 31st March 2020 and applies across the UK. This means the job support scheme, both closed and open is on hold, and the coronavirus job retention bonus payments which were due in February 2021, will also be postponed.
Under the extended flexible furlough scheme, employees will receive 80% salary funded by the government ( capped at £2500 per month) which employers can top up. Employers contributions will be the same as August 2020 payments, which means they will only pay NI and Pension contributions. Employees will receive their salary as normal and employers will reclaim via the coronavirus job retention scheme.
Key points:
This extension is UK wide and companies that are open/ closed/ partially open can access the scheme
· Employees will receive 80% salary funded by the government ( capped at £2500 per month) which employers can top up. Employers contributions will be the same as August 2020 payments, which means they will pay NI and Pension contributions. Employees will receive their salary as normal and employers will reclaim via the coronavirus job retention scheme.
It is flexible furlough, so there is no minimum period of non-working required.
The employer pays for time worked as normal.
Employees can be claimed for under the scheme if they are on the employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020 and a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment to HMRC made on or before 30th October 2020
Employers who have not previously used the scheme are eligible.
Employees who have never been furloughed before, are eligible, if they meet the date criteria.
Notice periods – currently an employee can be placed on furlough during a notice period and receive 100% salary and 80% can be reclaimed via the job retention scheme. However, this is expected to change after 1st December 2020, so to use furlough for notice periods, notice must be issued prior to 1st December 2020. This covers all notice, including redundancies and termination of employment.
A written agreement to the scheme is required, employers should send employees letters of the extension and it is advisable to obtain employee signature to confirm agreement.
The company name and registration number of any company that claims furlough will be published on HMRC website from December 2020.
HMRC will check claims with payments being withheld or required to be paid back if based on fraudulent or incorrect claims. Suspected fraud can be reported to HMRC https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc
Further details can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme