Further guidance on the extended CJRS

Yesterday evening, in a change from the usual Friday afternoon and occasional Sunday approach, the Government issued the updated guidance for the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

In essence the scheme is the same as the CJRS that was running in August in that employers may fully furlough or flexibly furlough staff and reclaim 80% (up to the cap of £2500 per month pro-rated where appropriate) of their wages from the scheme. A key potential difference will be the treatment of notice periods which the Government says they are reviewing. Under the 'old' CJRS an employer could reclaim wages for an employee under notice whereas the Government says that for the extended scheme they are reviewing the situation with regard to contractual or statutory notice periods claimed for after 1 December 2020 and will publish further guidance in late November.

Employees may be retrospectively furloughed with effect from 1 November 2020 provided agreement to furlough has been reached on or before this Friday, 13 November 2020.

Click here to access the most recent versions of the updated guidance.