Summary

We understand that our clients and contacts will be addressing complex redundancy issues related to COVID-19 in multiple jurisdictions. BCLP, together with our local counsel friends, have produced a global Q&A document covering 40 jurisdictions. We cover questions around dismissals, compensation, collective consultation and alternatives to redundancy.

Please download our global Q&A document here.

The document covers the following questions:

• Is there any legislation, order or mandate prohibiting an employer from dismissing an employee in circumstances where the employer has obtained the benefit of Coronavirus government support?
• Does an employee with a qualifying period of employment have any statutory protection against redundancy dismissal?
• What redundancy compensation is payable to an employee who is dismissed by reason of redundancy?
• Should an employer take into consideration a Coronavirus government support scheme before dismissing an employee?
• Are employers subject to separate collective consultation obligations?
• If an employer is subject to collective consultation obligations, is there any defence for a failure to comply?
• If an employer is subject to collective consultation obligations, what is the sanction for a failure to comply?
• What alternatives to redundancy dismissal are open to an employer?

Today, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, made a long awaited statement setting out further details of the changes to the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the “CJRS”). He confirmed that progressively with effect from 30 June 2020 until the cessation of the CJRS on 31 October 2020 the following changes will be made:

• From 30 June 2020: employers will not be able to put additional employees on furlough under the CJRS – employers can only make furlough claims in respect of those who have already been registered under the scheme as at 10 June 2020.
• From 1 July 2020: employers may take employees off furlough to work part-time. Employers will be responsible for remuneration costs related to any period of part-time work, with CJRS grants continuing to fund the period when the employees are not working part-time.
• From 1 August 2020: employers will have to pay the related employer National Insurance contributions and employer pension auto enrolment contributions.
• From 1 September 2020: employers must contribute 10% towards the pay of furloughed employees, with the government grant reduced to 70%. The 80% furlough pay will continue to be capped at £2,500 per month.
• From 1 October 2020: employers must contribute 20% towards the pay of furloughed employees, with the government grant reduced to 60%. The 80% furlough pay will continue to be capped at £2,500 per month.

With the above changes in mind, employers need to make early assessments as to whether, and if so how,

Today, the UK government announced that a new online service will be launched on 26 May 2020 for small and medium-sized employers (with fewer than 250 employees) to recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) payments they have made to their employees.

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (part of a package of support measures for businesses affected by Coronavirus) covers all types of employment contracts, including full-time employees; part-time employees; employees on agency contracts and employees on flexible or zero-hour contracts.

Employers will be able to make their claims through a new online service in respect of payments made to current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020 on condition that they have a PAYE payroll scheme that was created and started before 28 February 2020 and they had fewer than 250 employees before that date.  Employees do not have to provide a doctor’s fit note for their employer to make a claim under the scheme.

The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks of SSP and is payable in respect of employees who are unable to work because they have Coronavirus; are self-isolating and unable to work from home or are shielding because they have been advised that they are at high risk of severe illness from Coronavirus.

BCLP has assembled a COVID-19 Employment & Labor taskforce to assist clients with employment law issues across various jurisdictions. You can contact the taskforce at: COVID-19HRLabour&EmploymentIssues@bclplaw.com. You can also view other thought

Since its inception, almost one million employers have applied to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) to help pay the wages of 7.5m jobs (almost a quarter of all employees in the UK).  Although there is no doubt that the CJRS has been a great success in protecting jobs whilst businesses have been in hibernation, the cost to the UK taxpayer has been extraordinary – an estimated £49 billion up to 30 June 2020, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The government will be hopeful that as lockdown is eased and employees who cannot work from home gradually return back to the workplace, reliance on the CJRS will decline.  However, there are some sectors which will not be able to reopen until 4 July 2020 (at the earliest) and there will be some employers who will not be able to put in place a COVID-19 secure workplace.  With that in mind, and with a collective redundancy consultation “cliff-edge” on 15 May 2020, the government has taken steps to extend the CJRS.

Today, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the following:

• the CJRS will be extended for a further four months, up to 31 October 2020;
• no changes will be made to the CJRS until the end of July 2020;
• with effect from 1 August 2020, part-time furloughing under the CJRS (which is currently prohibited) will be permitted;
• the existing government grant of 80% of wages (capped at £2,500 per month) will continue to remain in place; and

Yesterday, the UK government published eight different workplace-specific guidance documents on measures that employers need to take to “help get Brits safely back to work”. The guidance is tailored for different workplace environments, such as offices, factories, retail shops etc.

Whilst the basic position remains that employers should take all reasonable steps to help their staff work from home, where this is not feasible and the employer has not been told to close, staff should be encouraged to come back to work – as long as there is a ‘COVID-19 secure’ environment put in place by the employer.

In order to take steps to ensure that the workplace is COVID-19 secure, employers are required to take the following key steps:

• consult with the health and safety representative selected by a recognised trade union (or, if there is not one, a representative chosen by staff) about a risk assessment to be carried out in order to establish what specific guidelines need to be to put in place;
• share the results of the risk assessment with the workforce – the UK government has stated that it expects all employers with over 50 workers to publish this data on their website;
• display a standard form notice in the workplace to demonstrate that the employer is following the guidance;
• re-design workplaces to maintain (wherever possible) social distancing by, for example, ensuring a 2 metre distance between staff; staggering working hours and opening up more exit and entry points;
• if it is not
  

Last night, the UK Prime Minister made his long awaited announcement on the roadmap to easing lockdown in England.  As anticipated in the days leading up to the announcement, the changes to the lockdown arrangements (described by the TUC as a “recipe for confusion”) have been tentative.  From an employment perspective, the key points to note are:

•  the government guidance has now shifted so that those employees who work in the construction and manufacturing sector should be actively encouraged to return to work, if they cannot work from home;
• given the impact of social distancing on the public transport network, employees returning to the workplace, will need to find alternative ways to travel; and
•  employers will need to ensure that social distancing and other health and safety measures are in place at the workplace.

Limited public transport capacity is likely to pose a significant conundrum for employers.  Whilst they may be able to put in place innovative social distancing measures, it remains to be seen how staff will be to travel into work.  This is likely to be even more problematic as we move into the winter months when, for example, cycling to work will not be a practical solution.

Employers also need to balance the desire to reopen with ensuring that they provide a safe working environment and that their employees are comfortable returning to work.  Sector specific safety protocols, designed to make the workplace COVID secure, are expected to be published by the government shortly.  Employers

Online portal

Today, the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) online portal has opened for employers to make applications for furlough grants.  You can find the portal here.

Claims can only be made in respect of furloughed employees who were on an employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 and who were notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020.  Employees who were employed as at 28 February 2020 and on payroll (that is, notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 28 February 2020) and who were made redundant or stopped working for the employer after that date, but prior to 19 March 2020, will also qualify for the CJRS if the employer re-employs them and puts them on furlough.

In relation to claims made under the CJRS, employers should retain all records and calculations in respect of its claims, including records of the amount claimed for each furloughed employee and the period for which each employee is furloughed.

If an employer is furloughing less than 100 employees, in addition to providing certain employer-related details, it is required to enter various employee-specific information. This includes the employee’s name, National Insurance number, claim period and claim amount, and payroll/employee number (optional).  If an employer is furloughing 100 or more employees, it can upload a file with the above information rather than input it directly into the portal.  HMRC will accept .xls .xlsx .csv .ods file types.

For more information

The UK government announced this afternoon that it is extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) by a month to the end of June. The announcement is welcome news for many employers who for business planning purposes were considering whether they could continue to employ staff currently on furlough if the CJRS finished on the original 31 May date.

In addition, the government has finally provided guidance on holiday rights during furlough. The guidance gives welcome confirmation that employees continue to accrue holiday during furlough. Employees may also take holiday whilst on furlough, with any statutory holiday being paid at their usual holiday pay rate in accordance with the Working Time Regulations. Employers will be obliged to pay the additional amounts over the grant.

BCLP has assembled a COVID-19 Employment & Labor taskforce to assist clients with employment law issues across various jurisdictions. You can contact the taskforce at: COVID-19HRLabour&EmploymentIssues@bclplaw.com. You can also view other thought leadership, guidance, and helpful information on our dedicated COVID-19 / Coronavirus resources page.

Summary

Key points arising out of the revised guidance and the legislative framework include:

1. Eligibility cut-off date extended from 28 February to 19 March: This is the most significant change to the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) guidance. It brings into scope many new recruits who previously could not be furloughed. Earlier versions of the guidance said that new recruits who joined after 28 February were excluded from the scheme. However, the latest guidance now says that individuals put on the employer’s payroll on or before 19 March, and in respect of whom the employer has also made an RTI submission to HMRC on or before 19 March, can be furloughed.

It may well be that employers have already taken action to terminate new recruits who, according to previous versions of the guidance couldn’t be furloughed. Employers still have the option to rehire these individuals and then furlough them, if they wish to do so.

2. Requirement for employer/employee agreement: the legislative underpin for the CJRS (the ‘CJRS Direction’) has now also been published and says that to be furloughed, the employer and employee must agree in writing that the employee will cease all work. This conflicts with the guidance, where the employer only has to confirm in writing that the employee has been furloughed, not that the employee has agreed to cease working. The best evidence of employee agreement is express confirmation from the employee that they agree to the furlough letter terms (which include the

Summary

As an update to our 27 March blog “Coronavirus: UK Job Retention Scheme – further government guidance”, the UK government has revised its online guidance to provide more information on how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) operates. A number of points have been clarified, whilst some important issues have still not been addressed.

The following CJRS points have been clarified:

Who can be furloughed?

Clarifications on who can be furloughed include:

• Terminated and rehired staff: employees who were terminated on or after 28 February, whether or not for redundancy, can be furloughed, providing the employer rehires them. Previously the guidance only talked about those who were made redundant;
• Carers/shielding employees: employees who are unable to work from home because they have caring responsibilities, or because they are shielding in line with public health guidance, are expressly covered;
• Insolvency: employees of a company which is in administration may be furloughed, although the government expects administrators to only access the CJRS if there is a reasonable likelihood of rehiring them; and
• Non-employees: whilst we already knew that non-employees such as agency workers who are paid through PAYE could be furloughed, the updated guidance highlights that company directors and salaried members of LLPs are also covered, as are apprentices.

What elements of staff remuneration can be reclaimed?

• Fees, commission and bonuses: previously the guidance said these aspects of remuneration could not be part of the remuneration that could be reclaimed. However, the guidance now provides that