Firstly, what on earth is a CJRS Treasury Direction? This is a direction which forms part of the legal framework behind the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”). The first CJRS Treasury Direction was published on 15 April 2020 and as you can imagine, a number of amendments and updates have been made since.
The latest update was published on 13 November 2020 and covers the extension of the CJRS. It confirms that the furlough scheme has been extended from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021.
The update focuses on applications for the scheme prior to 31 January 2021 as there will be a further direction made by the Treasury on how to apply for the scheme after 31 January 2021.
A couple noteworthy points:
1. The direction now states that by making a claim, you accept that the HMRC will publish certain information about your claim on the internet. There may be exceptions to this, but it is likely that they will only be made on rare occasions.
2. Claims may not be made for any day that an employee is serving notice between 1 December 2020 and 31 January 2021. This means both statutory and contractual notice period. Please do read our previous article for more information on claim periods – https://www.guardianlaw.co.uk/furlough-update/.
The update also covers new rules on who is eligible, reference salaries, permitted activities during furlough and more. Therefore, if you are using the scheme now or are planning to use it soon, then we would strongly suggest you read the latest update and/or contact us (details below) so we can provide you with specific advice on how the direction affects you and your business.
Furthermore, the direction also confirms that the extended furlough scheme supersedes the Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus scheme and therefore, this has been withdrawn. Whilst this may be disheartening to hear, in most businesses the CJRS will actually be more financially beneficial than the bonus scheme would have been.
We understand that the constant changes are causing headaches for employers, so we are posting regular, clear and informative updates on our website. The links will be shared on LinkedIn (@GuardianLaw) and Twitter (@GuardianLawyer) so follow us and keep an eye out for our posts.
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