| HR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Jackie le Poidevin, Editor-in-Chief, HR Adviser |
Act Fast if You Want to Extend Your Employees’ Furlough Leave
The Government only issued detailed guidance on its latest furlough scheme (extended to 31 March 2021) late on Tuesday 10 November. Yet to take maximum advantage of the extension, you only have until Friday 13 November to issue your employees with new or updated written furlough agreements. Read on to find out why this date is important and to access a model agreement for extending furlough.
It’s possible to furlough employees with retrospective effect from 1 November, when the furlough scheme was extended, even if you don’t yet have agreements with staff in place. You’re permitted to backdate an agreement to this date as long as it’s in place by the end of 13 November.
If you miss this deadline, you can only claim furlough support from the date that you actually draw up your agreement with staff. You can’t backdate an agreement if an employee has been working their normal hours for you since 1 November – they must have been doing no work or (in the case of a flexible furlough arrangement) reduced hours.
Get Consent
Although you must get employees’ agreement to be furloughed, this doesn’t necessarily have to be in writing. Verbal consent is enough, provided that you then follow up in writing to confirm what’s been agreed. It’s always better if possible to get signed agreement, so the employee can’t allege they never actually gave consent to be furloughed on reduced pay. However, if you’ve run out of time for this, it’s fine to send employees an email confirming what you’ve previously agreed (perhaps during a group video call).
There’s a sample email communication below for extending an existing furlough leave arrangement. You may need to adapt it depending on the wording of your previous agreement and what you’ve agreed verbally with employees. You’ll need to keep it, and the existing agreement, for at least 6 years, as HMRC may ask to see these.
Monitor the Changing Situation
Although time is of the essence, there’s another very important point to bear in mind. If you need to make furloughed employees redundant, you can put them on notice of termination during November while still claiming for them under the extended CJRS. (You’ll have to top up their notice pay to 100% of normal pay.)
However, the Government guidance warns that change is on the way, stating that: ‘The government is reviewing whether employers should be eligible to claim for employees serving contractual or statutory notice periods and will change the approach for claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020, with further guidance published in late November.’ So, you may have to take employees off furlough and meet the full cost of notice payments from next month.
Extended Furlough Leave Agreement
<Insert date – must be no later than 13 November to backdate the agreement to 1 November>
Dear <insert Employee Name>,
I am writing to confirm the continuation of your furlough leave that we discussed on <insert date>. As you know, we expected the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to end on 31 October 2020 but the Government has now extended the scheme.
Due to <insert reason e.g. the closure of your workplace, the continuing impact of Covid-19 on the business>, we need to keep using the CJRS. You have therefore agreed to remain on furlough leave, with effect from <insert date e.g. 1 November 2020>.
The terms of your furlough leave are the same as those set out in our agreement of <insert date>. In summary, you will:
- Continue to receive 80% of your salary during your furloughed hours, up to the maximum amount permitted under the CJRS.
- Not be required to carry out any work for us during your furloughed hours.
- Continue to be employed by us – all you other terms and conditions of employment remain in place and you will continue to accrue annual leave and gain continuity of employment during your furlough leave.
We will keep you updated on developments, including the expected length of your furlough leave. We may need to make changes to the terms of your leave, in which case we will seek your agreement first. You should therefore check your email and phone messages regularly for communications and respond, if necessary, within any stated timeframe. Please also inform us of any changes to your contact details to ensure we can keep in touch.
We will continue to monitor the situation and do everything we can to enable our business to survive the current challenges. In the meantime, I wish to thank you for your loyalty to the business during this difficult time.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Kind regards,
<Insert Name and Job Title>
For and on behalf of <insert Organisation Name>
| PAYROLL
Sarah Bradford, Editor-in-Chief, Pay & Benefits Adviser |
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Extended Until March 2021: How it Works
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was due to come to an end on 31 October 2020, to be replaced from 1 November 2020 with a new scheme, the Job Support Scheme. However, following the announcement of a second national lockdown from 5 November 2020 until 2 December 2020, the CJRS was revived. It will now run until 31 March 2021. Meanwhile, the Job Support Scheme has been put on hold.
The Government will review the support provided under the scheme in January 2021.
Eligible Employers
Employers are eligible to make a claim for employees’ furloughed hours for pay periods starting on or after 1 November 2020 if they have a UK PAYE scheme on 30 October 2020 and a UK bank account. The employer does not need to have made a claim previously to claim under the extended scheme for periods that start on or after 1 November 2020.
Eligible Employees
For pay periods starting on or after 1 November 2020, a claim can be made for a grant under the CJRS in respect of an employee who:
- Was fully or flexibly furloughed for some or all of the claim period.
- Was on the employer’s payroll at 23.59 on 30 October 2020.
- In respect of whom a real time information (RTI) submission has been made between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020.
The employee must be fully or flexibly furloughed for a period of at least 7 consecutive days to qualify for a grant. There is no requirement for the employee to have been furloughed and a grant claimed under the original scheme to benefit from the extended scheme.
Employees who were made redundant or who left on or after 23 September 2020 can also benefit under the extended scheme if they are re-employed.
Amount of Support
Under the extended scheme, employers can claim a grant for 80% of the employee’s usual pay for their furloughed hours, subject to a cap of £2,500 a month. The cap applies to employees who earn £3,125 per month or more. The full amount of the grant must be paid over to the employee. In this way, the scheme ensures that employees receive 80% of their usual pay (subject to the cap) for their furloughed hours. Guidance on calculating the claim can be found on the Gov.uk website.
Grant payments are liable to PAYE tax and National Insurance in the usual way. Pension contributions under auto-enrolment must also continue to be paid. Payment to employees and deductions must be reported to HMRC under RTI.
Employers cannot claim back the associated National Insurance on the grant or the employer pension contributions and must meet these costs themselves. Thus, there is a cost to the employer for using the scheme.
Claim Online
Claims must be made online as before via the portal on the Gov.uk website. However, the deadline for making claims under the extended scheme is shorter. Claims must be made by 11.59pm on the day 14 days from the end of the claim period. Where this falls on a weekend, the deadline is the next working day. The claim deadlines are set out in the table below.
| Claim Period | Claim Deadline |
| November 2020 | 14 December 2020 |
| December 2020 | 14 January 2020 |
| January 2021 | 15 February 2021 |
| February 2021 | 15 March 2021 |
| March 2021 | 14 April 2021 |
| HEALTH & SAFETY
Paul Smith, Editor-in-Chief, Health & Safety Adviser |
Coronavirus: ‘Failed Safe’? Report Finds Holes in Employer Response
We’ve had some good news on the vaccine front this week, but employers are not giving workers confidence when it comes to their Covid-secure precautions – and nor are the agencies responsible for their oversight. These are the disturbing conclusions of recent research (1) from the Resolution Foundation think-tank, which also warns that more than one in three employees is worried about catching Covid-19 at work. We set out their key findings and offer 7 recommendations on how to avoid getting caught out by a spot check.
Using YouGov figures, the survey examined:
- The extent of workers’ Covid concerns.
- What steps employers are taking to make workplaces Covid-secure.
- How unsafe practices are dealt with.
More than one in three (35%) of workers have an active concern about the transmission of Covid-19 in their workplace. Almost half (47%) rate the risk of Covid-19 transmission at work as fairly or very high. And although 90% of employers take steps to reduce risks, 35% workers are still worried about catching Covid on the job.
Covid concerns are most common among:
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers (47%).
- Those living in a household where someone’s shielding (45%).
- Workers in care (44%) and customer-facing (41%) roles, such as shops and restaurants.
Other key findings were that:
- Those most worried about Covid in the workplace are often the least likely to raise their concerns.
- Young workers (aged 18–24 years) are almost half as likely to raise a Covid-related complaint as 55–64-year-old workers (36% compared with 67%).
- Low paid workers are less likely to report their Covid concern was fully resolved when compared with high paid workers (15% against 29%). They are also less likely to be able to work at home when compared with better-paid workers.
The report also criticises regulators: it claims the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was slow to respond to the pandemic and has been under resourced, with its budget per site more than halving over the past decade, from £224 in 2010–11 to just £100 in 2020–21. It calls on policy makers to stop seeing health and safety as a ‘brake on business’, underlining that Covid-secure workplaces are vital if employers are to bounce back from the pandemic with a full complement of staff.
The HSE says it has stepped up its regime of Covid-secure spot checks and warns employers: ‘To ensure we reach as many workplaces as possible nationally, we are working with trained and approved partners. If you receive a call or visit from us, you should participate in the spot check as failure could lead to enforcement action.’
7 Actions for Employers
This latest report adds new urgency to the need to set up and maintain Covid-secure precautions. It also highlights the absolute priority of involving staff in your arrangements so that they feel as safe as possible in the circumstances. Our 7 tips are therefore:
- It’s probably some time now since you first carried out your Covid-secure risk assessment, so check it is still up to date. For example, practice on face coverings has changed, so does your assessment reflect that?
- Talk to staff: they are much more likely to support your arrangements if they have had an input into what they should be.
- Workers are also your best source of intelligence, both on how well the arrangements work in practice and for ideas on what could be done better.
- Make sure all workers, regardless of age, pay and background, feel able to raise concerns. Treat any reported issues as ‘free help’, not as criticism or lack of support.
- Set up multiple pathways for getting ideas from staff e.g. formal consultation, health and safety committees, online and paper-based suggestion schemes as well as direct conversations e.g. at team briefs, one-to-ones and review meetings. Do include those working at home or self-isolating.
- When someone raises a concern, always respond – even if it is not possible to do everything they are suggesting.
- If you discover something you wouldn’t want an inspector to see, don’t wait – deal with it now.