On 25 January 2021, the Chancellor of the Exchequer issued a new Treasury Direction extending and amending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”). The Direction extends the scheme until 30 April 2021 and makes no changes to the amounts employers can claim for under the CJRS between February – April 2021. It continues to be the case that employers can claim for 80% of an eligible employee’s salary, capped at £2,500 per month in respect of hours not worked and will still be required to pay national insurance and auto-enrolment pension contributions on furloughed employees’ pay. The key points to note in the Directive are as follows:

  • The CJRS is formally extended until 30 April 2021 and this Direction covers the period from 1 February – 30 April 2021.
  • It remains the position that an employer cannot claim under the CJRS for an employee who is working their notice period.
  • The deadlines to submit and amend claims for furlough pay during February – April 2021 are:
      1. February: submit- 15 March 2021, amend- 29 March 2021;
      2. March: submit- 14 April 2021, amend- 28 April 2021;
      3. April: submit- 14 May 2021, amend- 28 May 2021.
  • Where an employer is calculating furlough pay for a non-fixed rate employee during March/April 2021, the relevant reference month period should be March/April 2019 and not March/April 2020, as an employee furloughed in March/April 2021 may have already been on furlough pay during March/April 2020. However, when calculating January/February 2021 furlough pay, the corresponding calendar month in 2020 should be used. If a non-fixed rate employee was not employed in March/April 2019, then the employer can use the averaging method to calculate working hours.
  • Similarly, the same problem arises where the “calendar look-back” method is used for an employee whose relevant reference day is in March/April 2020, as they may have been furloughed during this time. Therefore, the Direction removes reference to salary periods and calendar days occurring in the 2019-2020 tax year.

In addition, HMRC have and will continue to publish information about employers who have received payments under the CJRS from February to April 2021. Whilst HMRC have not specifically explained why it is publishing these results, it is likely doing this is to shame the larger and/or wealthy employers who have been claiming off the scheme (as we saw during the first lockdown with employers such as Victoria Beckham and Liverpool and Tottenham Football Clubs). It is also thought that this list provides a way for employees to check if they are being made to work, whilst their employer is claiming furlough pay for them, and in turn, address large and increasing cases of furlough fraud, when the Government’s debt is so high.

See the new Treasury Directive here.

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