Furloughed workers to return part-time from July

On May 29, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced how the scheme will operate in the coming months for the one million employers who are furloughing employees. The guidance is as follows:

June 10 - The final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time (furlough is a minimum period of three weeks).

June 12 - Further guidance to be published.

June 30 - CJRS closed to new entrants.

July 1 - Only employees who have been furloughed previously, for a period of three weeks, can be claimed for from this date.

Furloughed employees can be brought back to work with CJRS being claimed for the hours not being worked.

Claim periods will be limited to months, no overlapping months will be permitted.

Employers will be able to claim under the new scheme.

Final date for employers to make claims for the period to June 30 2020.

Flexible furlough

At the moment, furlough and the rules of CJRS require the employee to do no work for the employer who is furloughing them.

From July 1, the employer and employee can agree to working arrangements and CJRS will continue to fund the non-working time. Claim periods will need to be for a minimum of one week, but can be longer where the pay cycle requires.

Working agreements between the employer and employee, must be confirmed in writing.

The employer will need to report the hours that have been worked and what hours the employee would usually be required to work. The grant claim will be based on hours not worked, using the normal hours the employee would work.

Employer contributions and costs

In June and July, CJRS will continue to fund the hours not worked up to 80 percent of wages to a cap of £2,500.

From July, employers will be required to pay for the hours worked by the employee.

From August, CJRS will continue to fund 80 percent up to a cap of £2,500 and employers will be required to pay employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pension costs for the hours not worked, as well as for the hours worked, CJRS will no longer fund the employer on-cost element.

From September, CJRS claims will be for 70 percent of wages, to a cap of £2,187.50, for the hours that the employee does not work. The employer will pay 10 percent to make up the shortfall to 80 percent to a cap of £2,500 plus the employer on-costs for NIC and pension.

From October, CJRS will fund 60 percent of wages to a cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is not required to work, the employer will be expected to contribute 20 percent to make up the shortfall to 80 percent to a cap of £2,500 plus the on-costs of employer NIC and pension.

The cap will be proportional to the hours not worked.

For full details, please read the fact sheet and guidance.

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