Inca COVID-19 Update 10: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Latest
16th April 2020
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Latest
More details about the government’s Job Retention Scheme have been confirmed. They include a change to the qualifying start date and clarification about rules on furloughing.
Here’s what we know:
Qualifying start date is now 19th March 2020
Previously, the government had said that an employee needed to be on the payroll on 28th February 2020 to qualify for the scheme, but this has now been amended to 19th March 2020. It’s a small but important change and could mean some new employees who joined in March are now eligible.
Note: The caveat to this change is that the RTI (real-time payroll) submission must have been made by 19th March 2020. This means it’s only likely to apply to weekly paid employees who started in March 2020, rather than monthly paid employees who joined at the beginning of March but weren’t paid until the end of the month.
Clarification on furloughing rules
- An employee is not allowed to work for your business while furloughed even if the employer chooses to top up their pay.
- HMRC has clarified that although an employee can work for another organisation while furloughed, the organisation must not be linked or connected to their furloughing employer.
- Following on from the above – an employee can be furloughed even if they are still working in another job, as long as the organisations employing them are not linked.
- Furloughed employees retain their statutory rights, including the right to Statutory Sick Pay should they become ill while furloughed.
- HMRC will reimburse for employer pension contributions made under a workplace pension scheme. However, they will only refund for the furloughed pay portion – and only up to the statutory contribution (3% of qualifying earnings).
In Other Related News
Pay It Forward
The government is getting behind Pay It Forward, a crowd-funded campaign set up to support businesses, organisations and the self-employed through the coronavirus crisis. You can find out more here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/pay-it-forward
Business Response to COVID-19
A newly set up website allows businesses to offer or request support during the crisis. You can find out more about Business Response to COVID-19 here: https://businessresponsecovid.org.uk/
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