02 November 2020 #Employment #Podcasts and Webinars
On Saturday 31 October, the Prime Minister announced that England will enter its second lockdown as of Thursday 5th November.
As a result, it was confirmed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) would be extended for an additional month.
From 1st November 2020, the CJRS will ensure employees receive 80% of their current salary, up to a cap of £2,500 per month, for the hours they are furloughed (not working).
This level of support mirrors that available under the CJRS in August, with employers responsible for National Insurance and employer pension contributions.
The Government has also confirmed that flexible furloughing can continue under the extended CJRS.
The launch of the Job Support Scheme, which was due on the 1st November 2020, has been postponed until the CJRS ends. This means that employers who have obtained employees consent to be placed on the Job Support Scheme must now obtain their consent to be furloughed. We also assume that consent must be capable of being backdated to 1 November but we await further guidance on this.
Crucially, the scheme applies to all employees who were on the payroll on 30 October 2020. This means that employees who were not previously furloughed under the scheme, can be furloughed now. Similarly, employers do not need to have accessed the scheme previously to be able to claim.
Eligibility remains the same as it has been throughout the scheme, meaning all employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim.
Further details, including how to claim this extended support through an updated claims service, are expected from the Government shortly – we will update you as soon as we know more.
As always, please do get in contact with us if you would like more information on any issues that may be affecting your business in these difficult times. You can give us a call on 0118 958 5321 or email us at contact@clarkslegal.com
