I had the pleasure to be the first guest on a new podcast by Michael Pickup from Oyster Search & Selection this week. We were talking about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, or Furlough Scheme, and you can listen to it here. One comment I made was how the Furlough Scheme was continuing to develop at pace and, as it happens, there have been further clarifications that are the subject of this week’s blog.
HMRC portal and payments
During a Parliamentary Select Committee on 8 April the First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HMRC stated that the online portal, through which employers will be able to submit their claims, will be available from 20 April with the first payments being made ten days later. I have to say the timetable for the first payments is much shorter than I anticipated and this will be good news to many employers who are struggling with their cash flow. Undoubtedly the system will be inundated and it remains to be seen how HMRC will prioritise claims.
Furlough Scheme and TUPE
The Member of Parliament for Wantage received an email from HM Treasury in response to his question about whether employees who had been TUPEd to a new employer after 28 February would be eligible for the scheme (bearing in mind the guidance stated that workers had to be on the employer’s PAYE scheme as at 28 February and so employees may not have been on the transferee employer’s PAYE scheme as at that date). It would have been against the spirit of the scheme, and TUPE, if those employees were not covered and it will be a relief to many that the response stated, “employers that have undertaken a Transfer Undertaking Protected Employment [sic] (TUPE) transfer, or similar transfer, after 28 February 2020 are eligible for the CRJS”.
Furlough leave and holidays
In a tweet on 7 April HMRC Customer Support wrote, “If an employee has a holiday or has a scheduled Bank Holiday while on furlough, they are entitled to still receive this holiday. Employers must ensure that any employee on holiday or a Bank Holiday is paid their full salary for that period of holiday”.
FAQs: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Whilst not seemingly adding anything new, the House of Commons library has issued a FAQ document to MPs which brings together much of what we knew in one place. You can access the document here.
And finally …
I’ve published this blog a day early this week, and kept it short, as we are heading into the Easter weekend. In closing, I want to wish all readers and their loved ones the very best of bank holidays, especially in the current circumstances.
Please stay safe; stay well and stay home.