Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended

Correct as of 2nd November 2020

We have provided various updates on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme) including when the scheme was first announced, when further guidance was issued on 26 March 2020, on 6 April 2020, on 8 April 2020 as further details were announced, on 9 April 2020, on 15 April 2020 as the scheme expanded in scope when the scheme went live on 20 April 2020, when the scheme was extended until the end of October, when the Treasury Directions were updated, on 29 May 2020 when changes to the scheme were announced, when further details of the Flexible Furlough scheme were announced and when Flexible Furlough Scheme went live.

The scheme was due to close on 31st October to be replaced by the new Job Support Scheme, however, following a late announcement by the Prime Minister on 31st October, the scheme is set to be extended until December in line with the duration of the new lockdown recently announced in England. Importantly, this puts the Job Support Scheme on hold.

Key points

Employers may have been preparing to use the new Job Support Scheme, but now will be able to rely on the extended CJRS. The extended CJRS will be different from the version of the scheme which employers were using towards the end of October and employers should note the following key points:

• The level of the grant will mirror levels available under the CJRS previously seen in August. The government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500.

• Employers will pay employer NICs and pension contributions, and should continue to pay the employee for hours worked in the normal way.

• As under the extended CJRS, flexible furloughing will be allowed in addition to full-time furloughing.

• Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.

• To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30th October 2020.

• Employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.

• Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.

• When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.

• Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.

We still await full details of how the extended CJRS scheme will work, with more guidance expected shortly. However, for employers who had already communicated to employees they were to be placed on the Job Support Scheme, it will be required to appropriately document the change to the extended CJRS scheme.

What about the Job Support Scheme?

The Job Support Scheme will now be introduced following the end of the CJRS, which is scheduled to be in December. Further details of the Job Support Scheme were released on Friday and we will provide an update on this separately.