Furlough Extended UK Wide
Key Contact: Claire Knowles
Author: Rebecca Mahon
On Saturday night, Boris Johnson announced that there will be a 4-week lockdown in England from 00.01 on Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December. After weeks of preparation for the JSS Open and Closed, which were due to start today, he also announced that the original Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (also known as the “the furlough scheme” and the CJRS) will be extended during this time. Whilst the lockdown only applies in England, the extension of the CJRS is nationwide.
The extended CJRS is “more generous” than the support provided to employers in October. Employees will continue to receive 80% pay during hours not worked up to a maximum of £2500, but employers will only need to pay pension and national insurance contributions. This takes us back to the August iteration of the CJRS. The Chancellor confirmed this morning that the scheme will be available to employees who were on the payroll as at 30 October 2020. Further information has been promised “imminently”.
From 3 December 2020, employers will revert back to the Open and Closed Job Support Scheme which was intended to take effect from 1 November 2020. Further details regarding this scheme have been published and updated guidance from the Acuity team will be shared later this week.
For advice and support on either of the schemes and their detail, please contact our employment team.
