A further reduction to the amount of wages that HMRC will cover on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been announced.
From 1 October, HMRC will pay 60% of usual wages up to a cap of £1,875 per month for the hours furloughed employees do not work.
What you will need to do from 1 October:
- Continue to pay furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. You will need to fund the difference between this and the CJRS grant yourselves as an employer.
- The caps are proportional to the hours not worked. For example, if an employee is furloughed for half their usual hours in October, employers are entitled to claim 60% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work, up to £937.50 (half of £1,875 cap). Employers must still pay their employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they don’t work, so for someone only working half their usual hours you’ll need to pay them up to £1,250 (half of £2,500 cap), funding the remaining portion yourselves. For help with calculations click here.
- You will also continue to pay furloughed employees’ National Insurance and pension contributions from your own funds.
It’s important that you provide HMRC with all the data needed to process your claim. Payment of your grant may be at risk or delayed if you submit a claim that is incomplete or incorrect. HMRC will get in touch with you if they see any employee data missing from your previous claims.
If you are claiming for 100 or more employees you should use the standard template to submit employees’ details. It is important that you submit the correct data (including National Insurance numbers) in the correct format. You can download the template here.
For more details on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), please visit our help sheets and guides page. If you are concerned or have questions about this, please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help.