- This has been running since 19th March 2020.
- The Government will pay 80% of a standard/average wage of an employee who was on a PAYE Scheme on or before 19th March 2020. This is capped at £2,500 per month per employee.
- Employees must stay furloughed for a minimum of three weeks.
- Employees cannot carry out any work for the business during this time, but can undertake any training that the company offers.
- Directors can also be furloughed. Where they need to carry out particular duties to fulfil the statutory obligations they owe to their company, they may do so provided they do no more than would reasonably be judged necessary for that purpose, i.e. they should not do work of a kind they would carry out in normal circumstances to generate commercial revenue or provides services to or on behalf of their company.
- Furlough claim submissions can be made for each payment period, i.e. weekly, monthly, etc.
- HMRC are currently paying all acceptable claims within six working days.
TIP – Where you might have employees on shortened / reduced hours, it might be beneficial to consider utilising the furlough scheme. There are options available which Stack & Jones can help guide you through.
USEFUL LINK
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
