Communication on extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

The purpose of this legal update is to inform you about the new measures taken by the UK government in relation to the second period of lockdown that started on 5 November 2020 in order to support businesses and their staff across the country during this difficult time.

On Saturday 31 October 2020 the government announced that the furlough scheme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – CJRS) would be extended to 2 December 2020 and on 5 November 2020 made a further announcement to prolong the extension of the CJRS until 31 March 2021.

Consequently, the Job Support Scheme and the Job Retention Bonus which were initially scheduled to operate from 1 November 2020 have been put on hold.

The extended furlough scheme is more generous than in September and October and remains extremely flexible. We await further guidance next week but understand that:

• Employers can claim for employees who have not been previously furloughed under the CJRS.
• Employees must have been on their employers’ payroll on 30 October 2020
• The extended CJRS grant will cover up to 80% of the employee’s usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 gross per month.

This percentage will be reviewed or confirmed in January depending on the development of the situation

• Under the extended scheme, employers can seek the agreement of their employees to be placed on full furlough or flexible furlough.
• For employees who have previously been furloughed the employer will continue to use the reference pay as under the former scheme.
• For employees not previously furloughed, different rules and reference periods may apply for the calculation of pay to employees on fixed salary and those on variable
• Employees that were employed and on the payroll on 23 September 2020 who were made redundant or stopped working for their employer after that date can be re-employed and claimed for.

Our French Group working closely with our bilingual Employment team remain available to support you to draft adequate agreement with your employees under the extended CJRS or for any advice or clarifications you would need in relation to the current situation and its impact on your staff.

Co-authored by Bénédicte Viort de La Batie and Alix Troënès-Smith.