The Extended Furlough Scheme – Updated guidance – What we know now

16th November 2020

The Government has published updated guidance on the extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) regarding claiming for notice periods and the information which HMRC can publish about furlough claims.

Making redundancies and claiming for notice periods

• For claim periods before 1 December 2020, employers can continue to claim for furloughed employees who are serving a notice period.
• For claim periods on or after 1 December 2020, employers cannot claim for statutory or contractual notice periods, which includes notice of retirement and resignation.
• Grants claimed cannot be used to substitute redundancy payments.
• Statutory redundancy payments and statutory notice pay should be based on employee’s normal wages rather than the reduced furlough wage.
• If employees are to be made redundant, employers should continue to follow a fair process and consult with employees as necessary.

To add some practicality to the above, if an employee is serving notice now, a claim can be made for their notice pay up to and including 30 November 2020. If their notice period extends to 1 December 2020 onwards, this period cannot be claimed for and the employee must be taken off the furlough scheme and either required to work their notice (if possible in line with legislation) or be paid in lieu of it (the payment for which cannot be reclaimed under the scheme).

Public knowledge of furlough claims

• HMRC has confirmed some of the information that it will publish from December 2020. However, further detail is expected later this month.
• For claims made under the CJRS from December 2020 onwards, HMRC will publish:
  • Names of employers
  • A reasonable indication of the amount claimed under the CJRS
  • Company registration numbers (if the employer is registered)
• The information will be published for one year.
• HMRC may withhold publishing certain employers information if the employer can show that publication of the information would result in a serious risk of violence or intimidation to certain individuals or any individual living with them and HMRC will need to be satisfied by the evidence given.

If you missed our two previous articles on the extension of the CJRS following Rishi Sunak’s announcement and the initial release of the government guidance, you can find these here and here.

The most recent updates can be found in the following guidance: ‘Check if your employer can use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’, ‘Check which employees you can put on furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ and ‘Check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’.

The Government has also published a Treasury Direction in relation to the extension to the CJRS which can be found here.

If you would like any advice or assistance please contact the employment team, details below.