July is a pivotal month for the Job Retention Scheme. Whilst the financial support package within the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme is not changing, there are some other very significant changes to be aware of.
From 1 July, furlough rebate claim periods will no longer be able to overlap calendar months. This is necessary to reflect the forthcoming changes to the scheme with regard to employer contributions to wages. You should be conscious of this when planning your furlough rotations to ensure that no employees period of furlough spans 2 separate months.
Therefore, if you plan to claim furlough in June make sure you hit the 3 consecutive week requirement for all employees within the calendar month of June. This would mean that all employees to be furloughed in June must be furloughed by June 10th.
From 1 July, new entrants to the furlough scheme will no longer be accepted. This means that if you have not furloughed employees meeting the criteria before June 10th you will not be able to add them into the scheme if workload drops further between now and the end of the furlough scheme in October.
From 1 July, employers can bring employees back to work that have previously been furloughed to work part time or reduced hours, while still being able to claim the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant for the remaining normal (contracted) hours not worked. The government have stated that when claiming the grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of one week.
Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims will be published on 12 June. We are looking forward to this update so that we have a better definition of exactly what is meant by the above statement so we can support you to operate appropriately within the framework of the scheme.
If you have any questions regarding the job retention scheme or any other employment-related matter please do speak to us directly or contact hr@viewhr.co.uk.