Furlough Update: Redundancy, Notice and Job Retention Bonus

There have been many updates and tweaks to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) over recent months. Some have caused confusion whilst other announcements bring good news to employers. Recent updates on notice and the Job Retention Bonus are largely positive:

Redundancy and Notice

• Employers have been nervous about using the CJRS to pay notice on termination of employment, however, it has been clarified that it is permissible to terminate employment by reason of redundancy during the term of the CJRS.
• Employers are not permitted to claim for statutory or contractual redundancy payments under the CJRS.
• There was some confusion when the Government announced that employers can only claim “for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period”.
• A 17 July 2020 update clarified that employers can claim under the CJRS for statutory and contractual notice pay.

Job Retention Bonus

• The Government announced a ‘Job Retention Bonus’ as an incentive for employers to keep on furloughed employees after the Scheme ends.
• The bonus will be a one-off payment of £1,000 payable to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed until the end of January 2021.
• To be eligible for the bonus, employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Scheme and the end of January 2021.
• Bonus payments will be made from February 2021 with further details expected by the end of July.

This article has been produced for general information purposes and further advice should be sought from a professional advisor. Please contact our Employment team at Cleaver Fulton Rankin for further advice or information.