Coronavirus: UK Job Retention Scheme – government fills in some gaps in the guidance
April 6, 2020
Authored by: Rebecca Harding-Hill and Mark Kaye
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