In the Budget, the JRS was extended until 30 September 2021, from its previously scheduled end date of 30 April 2021. Hopefully by the autumn relatively few employers will still need to use it, but it's there if they do.
In the first version of the scheme, claims could be made in respect of furloughed employees who'd been reported to HMRC prior to 19 February 2020 as being on the employer's payroll. In the second phase, they had to have been reported to HMRC prior to 30 October 2020. For this (fingers crossed) final stage, they need to have been reported to HMRC prior to 2 March 2021 as being on payroll.
So, that means that anyone who was on your February 2021 payroll can now be furloughed (if necessary) and a claim made from the government towards their wages, right? Not so fast. For a staff member who didn't meet the conditions for the first two phases, a claim can only be made for pay periods beginning 1 May 2021 onwards. For March and April, the final two months of the current/second phase of the scheme, they're still excluded. It seems quite likely a bunch of employers could miss that condition if they're not careful, and furlough recent starters in the mistaken expectation of being able to claim from the government towards their wages - this wrinkle has not been highly publicised.
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