The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is a complex support package which was first announced on 20 March, with further updates and guidance provided by the Government throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
The CJRS ended on 30 September 2021. Claims for September must be submitted on or before 14 October 2021. Any amendments must be made on or before 28 October 2021.
This page is dedicated to questions related to the scheme for the period ending on or before 30 June 2021. We have also provided a lengthy summary of the FAQs previously asked by our clients, which can be viewed here.
What is the support available?
The grant will pay for 80% of an employee’s current wages for the time not working, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The employer must pay for all of the employer’s NIC and employer’s minimum workplace pension contributions in respect of those wages.
The employer can voluntarily top-up the employee’s furlough pay at their own expense.
How long will it last?
The current scheme will be in place until 30 June 2021.
Who are qualifying employees?
For periods starting on or after 1 May 2021, you can claim for employees who were employed on 2 March 2021, as long as you’ve made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.
Employees on any type of contract can qualify, including zero hours contracts.
Are employees allowed to carry out any work?
As with the extension of the original scheme, flexible furlough will be allowed, as well as full-time furlough. So it will be possible to, say, allow two staff members carry out one full-time role, rather than have one staff member working full-time and another on full-time furlough. Employees may be furloughed for a few days or hours per week.
Which employers qualify?
Qualification for the scheme is the same as for the original scheme and the restrictions that would have applied under the Job Support Scheme for larger employers are not relevant.
How can a claim be made?
In a similar way to previous CJRS claims, with the employer reporting hours not worked in a claim period, together with the usual work hours on an employee by employee basis.
Claim periods must start and end within the same calendar month and last at least 7 days.
The only exception to this is if you’re claiming for the first few days or the last few days in a month. In that case, your claim must include either the first or last day of the calendar month, and you must have already claimed for the period ending immediately before it.
The next step
At UHY we have a number of advisers who are well used to dealing with the employment taxes part of HMRC, we can assist with communicating the employees you have furloughed, the reasons why, and the earnings on which the reimbursement should be based.
If you would like to discuss the support we can provide for your business during this difficult time, please contact your usual UHY adviser or complete the contact form.