From 1 July onwards, changes have been made to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), meaning that for the month of July, the government will only contribute 70% of the employees’ wages for hours not worked. This reduces to 60% for both August and September.
Despite the smaller support available, you are still obliged to pay furloughed employees at least 80% for hours not worked, which means that the employer contribution towards wages for hours not worked increases to 10% for July and 20% for August/September. The expectation that the employer pays employer’s NI and employer pension contributions remains the same during the last 3 months of the CJRS.
A few reminders:
- The CJRS cannot be claimed during an employee’s notice period. This applies to both resignations and dismissals, including notice as a result of redundancy
- You must keep CJRS claim records, including hours worked for flexible furloughed employees, for at least 6 years from the date you filed the claim
- Employees can take annual leave while on furlough and be paid 100% of their usual wages (subject to your usual annual leave booking procedures). When an employee takes annual leave whilst on furlough you can still claim for the 70% or 60% for the furloughed hours, depending on which month they take the leave. If the employee is flexibly furloughed you can only claim for the hours they would have been furloughed for.
- CJRS does not apply when an employee, not on furlough, is planning to take annual leave or goes on sick leave.
- You should provide notice in writing when taking employees off the furlough scheme, or when changing their furloughed hours.
If you have any questions concerning the furlough scheme, or you would like assistance with some of the communication requirements, please do get in touch with us.