Flexible furloughing
From 1 July 2020, you’ll have the flexibility to bring previously
furloughed employees back to work part-time – with the government continuing to
pay 80% of wages for any of their normal hours they do not work up until the
end of August. This flexibility comes a month earlier than previously announced
to help people get back to work.
You can decide the hours and shift patterns that your employees
will work on their return and you will be responsible for paying their wages in
full while working. This means that employees can work as much or as little as
your business needs, with no minimum time that you can furlough staff for.
Any working hours arrangement that you agree with your employee
must cover at least one week and be confirmed to the employee in writing. When
claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, you will need to report and claim
for a minimum period of a week. You can choose to make claims for longer
periods such as on monthly or two weekly cycles if you prefer. You will be
required to submit data on the usual hours an employee would be expected to
work in a claim period and actual hours worked.
If your employees are unable to return to work, or you do not have
work for them to do, they can remain on furlough and you can continue to claim
the grant for their full hours under the existing rules.
Employer contributions
From August, the government grant provided through the job
retention scheme will be slowly tapered.
- in June and July, the
government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 as well as employer
National Insurance (ER NICs) and pension contributions for the hours the
employee doesn’t work – employers will have to pay employees for the hours
they work
- in August, the
government will continue to pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 but
employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions – for the average
claim, this represents 5% of the gross employment costs that they would
have incurred if the employee had not been furloughed
- in September, the
government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for the hours
the employee does not work – employers will pay ER NICs, pension
contributions and 10% of wages to make up 80% of the total up to a cap of
£2,500
- in October, the
government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875 for the hours the
employee does not work – employers will pay ER NICs, pension contributions
and 20% of wages to make up 80% of the total up to a cap of £2,500
- the cap on the furlough grant
will be proportional to the hours not worked.
If you are a smaller employer, some or all of your employer NIC
bills will be covered by the Employment Allowance, so you should not be
significantly impacted by that part of the tapering of the government
contribution.
Around a quarter of CJRS
monthly claims relate to wages that are below the threshold where employer NICs
and auto enrolment contributions are due, and so no employer contribution will
be required for these furloughed employees in August.
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