UK – COVID-19: Furlough bonus scheme
As part of the UK government’s plans to support the UK economic recovery, it announced plans to pay a Job Retention Bonus to employers who keep their furloughed employees on after the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends on 31 October 2020 – and further details have now been published.
The Job Retention Bonus is a one-off payment to employers of £1,000 for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to 31 January 2021.
Employers will be able to claim for all employees who:
- were furloughed and had a CJRS claim submitted for them that meets all the relevant eligibility criteria
- were continuously employed by the relevant employer from the time of the employer’s most recent claim for that employee until at least 31 January 2021
- were paid an average of at least £520 a month between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021 (a total of at least £1,560 across the 3 months) – the employee does not have to be paid £520 in each month, but must have received some earnings in each of the three calendar months that have been paid and reported to HMRC via Real Time Information (RTI) reporting system
- have up-to-date RTI records, and
- are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period for the employer making a claim that started before 1 February 2021.
In order to qualify, employers must have complied with all the PAYE obligations, kept their payroll up-to-date and maintained accurate records, and have a UK bank account.
Employers will be able to claim the Bonus after they have filed PAYE for January 2021 through the gov.uk website. Payments will be made to employers from February 2021.
Practical point
Employers can start preparing now by making sure their furlough claims are accurate and, if appropriate, any amendments are notified to HMRC, and that their employee payroll reporting is up-to-date and accurate.
Further details are due to be published by the end of September 2020.
For more information on these articles or any other issues involving labour and employment matters in the United Kingdom, please contact Robert Hill (Partner) at Clyde & Co at robert.hill@clydeco.com or visit www.clydeco.com.
