| CHANGES to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme have come into force this month, meaning that employers need to make further contributions with effect from 1 September, says Joanne Holborn of Baines Wilson LLP. The Government’s contribution to the wages of furloughed employees has reduced to 70% (or a cap of £2,187.50). Employers must therefore now start contributing 10% of employees’ wages for the hours that they are furloughed. This follows (and is in addition to) the changes last month which saw employers having to start paying employees’ National Insurance and pension contributions. The level of grant from the Government is reduced each month up until its end date on 31 October. Next month, the Government will contribute 60% for an employees’ furloughed hours and employers will pay 20% of furlough pay as well as paying National Insurance and pension contributions. Employers can still choose whether to “top up” wages above the 80% total and will still have to pay employees for the hours that they work if employees have returned on a flexible furlough basis. If you plan to keep employees on furlough until the end of the scheme, you need to keep the changes under review to ensure you are paying employees accurately. Payment contributions may also, unfortunately, give rise to lay off and redundancy situations and if so, we explore these issues in our COVID-19 help section on our website here. We are also hosting a Zoominar on Tuesday 29 September at 10am on Post-furlough redundancies where our Employment team will oCoronaffer advice on best practice and top tips for dealing with the impact that Coronavirus has had on your business. Further details below. If you have any queries, please contact our Employment Team on 01228 552600 or 01524 548494. For more legal updates on post-furlough redundancies and more check out Baines Wilson’s Autumn Zoominars click here. |
