What’s happening?
Late on Tuesday 10 November, the government published updated guidance for the extended furlough leave scheme.
These updates follow Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement on 5 November that the furlough scheme is being extended until March 2021, see our previous Alert here to recap.
Why is this important?
If you are looking to use the new scheme (to make a claim for a period after 1 November 2020), you need to be aware of the following:
Any employee qualifies for the scheme provided they were employed on 30 October 2020 and you have made a PAYE Real Time Information submission prior to 30 October 2020 in respect of that employee;
- As we previously reported, you can re-employ employees who have been dismissed as redundant after 23 September 2020 and then place them on furlough;
- As before, Furlough arrangements must be agreed with employees and, for employees starting furlough leave from 1 November 2020, this must be in place no later than 13 November 2020;
- At your discretion, you can place employees on long term sickness on furlough. This should not be used for short term absences;
- Employees who are unable to come to work because of childcare issues resulting from Coronavirus can be furloughed;
- You can claim furlough for employees serving notice. However, this will be reviewed later this month and will change from 1 December 2020. Further guidance will follow; and
- HMRC will publish the names of employers that claim under the scheme from 1 December 2020.
What should you do?
- Consider if you need to place any employees on Furlough leave and if so, ensure you have a written agreement between you and the employee in place;
- Keep records of the hours worked as well as the furloughed hours. Ensure claims are submitted in accordance with the requirements; and
- Familiarise yourself with the requirements of the extended scheme and keep an eye out for further guidance. We’re expecting this at the end of November and we will provide further updates when it is released.
If you need more information please contact us on 0800 2800 421 or email Employment.Alert@trethowans.com to find out how we can help.