Guidance on flexible furlough issued

Late last week the government issued its guidance on how the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will operate and how flexible furlough arrangements will work from 1 July 2020.

The key points to note are:

• Only employees who had been furloughed for a minimum of 3 weeks prior to 30 June 2020 are eligible to be furloughed.

• However, employees who return to work following a period of family related leave and who had not been furloughed prior to 30 June 2020 are still permitted to access the Scheme.

• Flexibly furloughed employeescan do some work for the employer during the week and spend the remainderon furlough.

• The parties need to enter into a new written agreement setting out the hours/days that the employee will work, whilst flexibly furloughed.

• When the employee is working, they must be paid in full with the employer claiming for the time spent not working via the Scheme.

• The minimum 3 week furlough period will no longer apply from 1 July 2020 (but claims to HMRC can only be for a minimum period of 7 calendar days each).

• From 1 August 2020 the tapering arrangements take effect and employers will be required to contribute to furloughed employees wages in order to access the Scheme.  Those tapering arrangements are that:

• From 1 September 2020, employers will only be able to recover 70% of wages (up to a cap of £2,187.50) via the Scheme, and must top-up the payment to the employee to 80%; and

• From 1 October 2020, employers will only be able to recover 60% of wages (up to a cap of £1,875) via the Scheme and must top-up the payment to the employee to 80%.

Should you require assistance or have any queries on this or any other employee issue, please contact Steve Gee on 01282 695400.