There are some key dates approaching for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, or Furlough Scheme. Please make sure that you make a note of them so you don’t miss out…

31st July 2020 – Claims for the period ending on or before 30th June 2020 must be made by this date. These relate to the original version of the scheme, prior to ‘Flexible Furlough’.

1st August 2020 – After this point, Employers are unable to claim Employers’ National Insurance and pension contributions for furloughed employees.

1st September 2020 – Employers will start contributing towards the salaries of furloughed staff. For September Employers will need to pay furloughed staff 80% of their usual salary but can only claim 70%. For October the amount that can be claimed will reduce to 60%, whilst employees remain entitled to 80% of their salary.

Job Retention Bonus

This was announced as part of the Summer Economic Update. It offers a one-off payment of £1,000 to employers who have claimed under the Furlough Scheme who have retained those employees beyond 31st January 2021.

HMRC have announced that additional information on this scheme will be published on the 31st July 2020. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear more.