The Government issued an update yesterday to their Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Please see below for a summary of what has changed:
Qualifying Claim Date
The qualifying date that employees must have been included on an employer’s payroll has been extended to 19th March 2020 from the previous date of 28th February 2020.
The employee must have been included on an RTI submission to HMRC on or before 19th March 2020.
Employees who were included on an RTI submission on or before 28th February 2020, but stopped working or were made redundant prior to 19th March 2020, can qualify for CJRS if their employer employs them again and puts them on furlough.
Employer and Employee Written Agreement
The updated guidance has stated that in order to claim furlough, both the employee and the employer must have agreed in writing that the employee is to cease all work.
The original guidance was simply that the employee only required notification from the employer.
This may mean that many employees already furloughed have potentially been done so incorrectly if no written agreement was obtained, however this requires confirmation.
Changes to the Furlough Calculation
It is worth noting that as the qualifying period has been extended to 19th March 2020, the claim should be calculated in the last pay period prior to that date. If the pay at that date differs from the amount already calculated based on the previous date of 28th February 2020 then the calculation may need to be done again. You can choose to use your initial calculation for your first claim if you wish.
Online Claims Process
he Government have confirmed that the portal will go live next Monday, 20th April 2020. They are expecting the first payments to be made to employers on the 30th April.
The detail of how to make a claim and exactly what detail is required is covered in this article
