The New CJRS Treasury Direction
Published on: 16 November 2020On 13 November, HM Treasury published its fifth Direction in relation to the furlough scheme. Treasury Directions form the legal framework for the scheme.
The new Direction:
- formally extends the CJRS from 1 November 2020 until 31 March 2021;
- sets out the detail of how the CJRS will operate between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021 (a further Direction covering February and March 2021 to be published in due course); and
- withdraws the Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus.
The rules cover a wide range of issues including: eligibility; furlough agreements; claim periods; reference salaries; calculating usual hours of work; permitted activities during furlough; business succession (including TUPE); PAYE scheme reorganisations; and time limits for making claims.
Some key points are as follows:
- Claims may not be made for any day that an employee is serving notice between 1 December 2020 and 31 January 2021. The Direction does not distinguish between notice of dismissal and notice of resignation.
- It is now a condition of making a claim that the employer accepts that HMRC will publish information about CJRS claims on-line. This includes the name of the employer and a “reasonable indication” of the amount claimed. An exception may be made for employers who can show that publication would expose their workforce to “serious risk of violence or intimidation”.
- Furlough agreements must be in place before the start of the relevant claim period (but may be varied during the claim period).