Extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
The Chancellor announced that Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be extended until the end of March 2021 for all parts of the UK. For claim periods running to 31 January 2021, the UK Government will pay 80% of employees’ usual wages for hours not worked, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. The Chancellor also mentioned that the government will review the policy in January 2021 to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more.
The employer needs to pay all employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pension contributions. You can choose to top up your furloughed employees’ wages beyond the 80% paid by the UK government for hours not worked, but you are not required to do so. It was also confirmed that the Job Retention Bonus will no longer be paid in February 2021, as CJRS will be available at that time. An alternative retention incentive will be put in place at the appropriate time.
What you need to do now
If you intend to claim under the CJRS, please look at information published today on how you can check if you’re eligible to claim, and what you need to agree with your employees.
You will have the flexibility to ask your employees to work on a part-time basis and furlough them for the rest of their usual working hours or furlough them full-time. You will have to cover their wages for any hours they work as well as all employer National Insurance and employer pension contributions.
This latest information applies for CJRS claim periods from 1 November 2020. The final date for claims for the period up to 31 October is still 30 November 2020.
The full guidance for claims from November onwards, including more information on how to calculate a claim, will be published on GOV.UK on Tuesday, and we’ll send you another update to confirm this. Claims can be made from 11 November 2020.
BTCC support
We offer advice and support to our members with all the government support schemes. Call our membership line and we can arrange a 30-minute free consultation with our specialists to help you navigate through this difficult time.
