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.