Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Lubbock Fine, 21 March 2020
Lubbock Fine, 21 March 2020
On 20 March 2020, the Chancellor announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This scheme will provide government grants for up to 80% of employees’ salaries with a limit of £2,500 per month where the employee is not working. Employers can top this up.
The scheme is backdated to 1 March 2020 and will be open for at least three months.
HMRC guidance states all UK business are eligible. In his speech, the Chancellor announced this will apply to all employers in the country but it is yet to be confirmed whether employers that are not businesses (principally not for profit organisations) will be eligible for the scheme.
To access the scheme employers will need to designate employees as “furloughed workers” and notify their employees of this change. This change will be subject to existing employment law and therefore we would recommend legal advice is taken on this designation.
Employers will then need to submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed through a new online portal.
We await details of how the reimbursement will be made to employers as the current PAYE/NIC system is not set up to facilitate payments to employers.
If you would like to discuss further, please contact our Partner Andrew Noton at andrewnoton@lubbockfine.co.uk or your usual Lubbock Fine contact.