We thought it would be useful to share what we know, what’s expected to happen next and of course, what we advise you do over the next couple of days.

What We know

  • It is a grant that will support wages paid through PAYE in the UK
  • It is a maximum grant of 80% per furloughed employee per month. It does have a cap of £2,500 per employee
  • HMRC expect you to designate staff members as “Furloughed Workers”
  • Anyone earning £37,500 per annum will be covered for up to 3 months but it may be extended if needed
  • The scheme does not have to include every employee, it’s for you to decide which workers are not required and are therefore to be furloughed
  • To qualify, the staff member must not work during the period of the scheme
  • The scheme is available for all employers – charities, large, medium and small companies; basically anyone operating a PAYE scheme

What Happens Next

HMRC are in the process of creating a system to facilitate this scheme as currently they have no way of reimbursing businesses on a scale such as this. At this point, no further clarity has been given on how the grant system would work, practically. We are in regular contact with HMRC and other organisations, so will make sure you are updated as soon as we know more.

What You Should Do Now

The aim of our regular updates is to encourage you to move forward through what is constantly referred to as an  “unprecedented” time. Therefore, there are some immediate steps you should take:

  • Unless absolutely necessary, we advise waiting until full clarity is given by HMRC on how the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will work before making decisions on making any employees redundant. We hope more news will be released over the coming day
  • You should also consider taking employment law advice prior to making employees furloughed. This action can be completed immediately and will give you peace of mind that you have all in place ready for the scheme to launch. Our clients benefit from Fee Protection Insurance that provides access to an advisory support service. If you don’t already have HR support, we would recommend Julie Brewster julie@hrsupport4u.com
  • Cashflow modelling will help provide clarity on any actions required and the timing of these

We appreciate that there are still more questions than answers at present on this grant scheme but we promise to keep you informed as and when anything new is confirmed.

Stay safe and well

The Clear Vision Team