As you may have heard, the rules for furlough are being modified with effect from 1 July to give more flexibility to part time working.
The key points are set out below:
- No new employees can be sent on furlough, only those who have already been on furlough for a full three weeks by the end of June are eligible
- You can never have more employees on furlough in a month than the largest number you had on a previous claim
- Furlough from July onwards can be part-time, with no minimum or maximum; and
- It does need to be agreed with the employee and documented properly
- This will require an assessment of the employees “normal working hours”
- Claims have to be done for a full calendar month, and only one claim can be made for a month:
- This could potentially complicate the process of calculating the furlough pay
- You will have to agree a work pattern ahead of the claim being made before month end
- From 1st August, there is a reduction to the amount that the Government will be funding; as follows:
- From 1st August onwards you have to pay the employer’s NI and pension contributions
- From 1st September you have to pay at least 80% of salary but can only reclaim 70%
- From 1st October you can only reclaim 60%
- The scheme is set to end on 31st October 2020
We are able to assist with your furlough pay calculations and claims, but in order to do so we will need more information where employees are furloughed part-time.
If you have any questions about the changes please call.