The scheme has now been extended to the end of April 2021. The government will cover 80% of furloughed workers’ wages, while employers will need to pay National Insurance and pension contributions; this may change when the scheme is reassessed at the end of January 2021.
Claims for furlough days in December 2020 must be made by 14 January 2021.
You can no longer submit claims for claim periods ending on or before 31 October 2020.
Furloughed workers will continue to receive 80% of their salary throughout this time. Employers may choose to top up their employees’ salaries to 100%, but they’re under no obligation to do so.
Claims must be submitted by 11.59pm 14 calendar days after the month you’re claiming for. If this time falls on the weekend or a bank holiday then claims should be submitted on the next working day.
What does it mean for directors of limited companies?
While those who run limited companies may consider themselves to be self-employed, the purposes of this scheme consider directors to be employees of their company. As such, they can be furloughed provided they meet the other eligibility criteria. However, the 80% salary payment will only cover their regular pay. As most directors in this position will usually keep their salaried pay as low as possible and top up their income with dividends, this is likely to mean they’ll receive very little from the government scheme; dividend income is not included. What’s more, while on furlough, directors will only be allowed to carry out statutory directional duties, such as filing documents on Companies House. Any other form of work – even the maintenance of social media accounts, such as tweeting responses to customers or updating company profiles – is not allowed.
What does it mean for those who earn commission?
The new guidance has changed this and now says that commission payments can be included if they are regular “compulsory commission payments” which an employer is obliged to pay. Similarly, regular payments such as past overtime and fees can now also be included. Discretionary commission remains excluded by the Scheme.
Claim for wages job
We have made a job and form available in Senta to enter claim for wages details for your clients, including:
PAYE registration
Number of employees being furloughed
Employee details
Employer PAYE scheme ref number
Claim start date
Claim end date
Claim amount
Account details
This workflow contains:
1 x job template "Claim for wages"
1 x service "Claim for wages"
1 x form, including links to existing fields
1 x client list with relevant fields and CSV template
Please note:
- The task in the job is set to assign to client by default, so there will need to be an activated contact for this to work
- You will need to turn the service on manually for practices. If you want this to run automatically, you will need to change the service to be automatic
- The service currently makes the claim for wages job kick off on the 1st of each month. You may wish to change this at the service level so the job recurs on a different date
If you would like this workflow added to your site, please contact support@senta.co.
Correct as of 06/01/2021
Sources:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wages-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-furlough-scheme-job-protection