Tag archives: Job Retention Scheme

New law to ensure furloughed employees receive full redundancy payments

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 31, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The UK Government has published legislation, which will ensure that all furloughed employees receive statutory redundancy pay based on their normal wages, rather than a reduced furlough rate.

The Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) ensure that various statutory entitlements based on a week’s pay and connected with the termination of employment are not reduced as a result of an employee being furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The entitlements included in the Regulations are:

redundancy pay for those with more than 2 years’ continuous service who are made redundant and

UK Government: Plan for Jobs

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 13, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General, UK

On 8 July, the UK Chancellor announced proposals to help UK businesses have the confidence to retain and hire staff. The Government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has helped employers pay the wages of 9 million employees across the UK. However, the scheme will come to an end on 31 October 2020 and as the economy is now beginning to reopen, the summer economic update looks at the Government’s second phase of its response to the Coronavirus with a targeted Plan for Jobs.

The Plan includes the following proposals to support employers:

A Job Retention Bonus. This will

New Guidance published for flexible furlough scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 15, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 12 June the UK Government issued details of the flexible furlough arrangement which will operate from 1 July 2020. The new scheme will allow employees to work for their employer during some of the period and the employer will still be able to claim under the scheme in respect of the time where employees are on furlough.

Existing guidance has been updated and new guidance notes and examples have been published to cover the new flexibility.

What restrictions are there to an employer’s use of the scheme?

From 1 July employers can bring furloughed employees back to work for … Continue Reading

Furloughing new employees – deadline 10 June 2020

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 8, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As set out in our previous blog post here the UK: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is changing. This means that the CJRS is closing to new entrants form 30 June. Any new employees who an employer may wish to furlough and who have not already been furloughed, must be placed on furlough on or before 10 June.

The new flexible furlough scheme means that employees will be able to return to work on a part time basis without affecting their employers’ right to claim under the CJRS in respect of the non-working days.

Full guidance regarding the amended scheme … Continue Reading

Flexible Furlough –Changes to the UK Job Retention Scheme

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on June 1, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

On 29 May, the UK Chancellor provided details of the proposed changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The changes require employers to start sharing the cost of the furlough arrangement and allow a more flexible approach to working while on furlough.

New Flexibility

The Government is introducing a more flexible furlough arrangement. Employers will be able to bring previously furloughed employees back to work part time from 1 July, a month earlier than previously announced.

Employers will have flexibility to determine the hours worked and the shift pattern for their employees. They will then pay the full wages … Continue Reading

UK: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extended until end of October

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on May 14, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The Government has announced that by 12 May 7.5 million jobs in the UK have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme). Previous briefings on the details of the Scheme can be found here. The Scheme was due to end on 30 June 2020. However, following the Government’s announcement regarding the phased return to work the Government made it clear that the Scheme would not simply fall away. On 12 May, the Chancellor announced that the Scheme would remain open until the end of October. The Scheme will be amended as follows:

The Scheme will run

UK Job Retention Scheme open for applications

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 20, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

The UK Job Retention Scheme (JRS) opened for online applications on 20 April 2020. Access to the online portal can be found here.

The Government has also published a separate guidance note here which provides details of how to calculate 80% of the employee’s wages to claim through the JRS and some helpful worked examples of how to calculate the amounts for different pay periods. The guidance provides further details of how details will be entered on to the system depending on the number of staff being furloughed.

On 15 April the UK Chancellor made a Treasury Direction under … Continue Reading

The UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – An Update

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on March 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, UK

As we noted in our previous blog post here the UK Government announced the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by which employers can apply to HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wage costs (up to 80%) of salary of workers who are temporarily not working but kept on the payroll (furloughed workers) for up to a total of £2,500 per worker each month. The Government has now published further guidance on the scheme.

Which employers can apply under the scheme?

Any employer (regardless of size or sector type) who operates PAYE will be eligible for the scheme. … Continue Reading