Updates on the precise mechanics of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) are appearing almost daily, but a long-awaited announcement has now been made. HMRC told a parliamentary select committee on Wednesday, 8th April that the online portal would open on 20th April with the first reimbursements made on 30th April. HMRC has confirmed that the interim period will allow the opportunity to check for fraud. A capacity test has apparently been run and HMRC has confirmed it is confident that the system can cope with up to 450,000 claims per hour. A guidance document is expected to be issued next week which will most likely contain the following points:
• Only one claim can be made per pay period
• This can include backdating
• An employer can submit a claim up to 14 days before the date on which salaries are paid
• There are no plans currently to extend the scheme for employees who were not employed as of 28th February
• Records should be kept for up to 5 years
• Any fraudulent claims could lead to criminal prosecutions
Regarding the difficult question of annual leave whilst on furlough, the HMRC Customer Support has tweeted that it is possible to take annual leave whilst on furlough, but employees must be paid at their full or normal rate of pay. The initial Acas guidance on this suggested that it would be impractical to do so but this has now changed. This is rather pertinent, as it does mean that the Easter Bank Holidays will not break furlough leave. We have previously reported that employees can be required by an employer to take annual leave whilst on furlough and this remains the position. However, this must be on full salary.
We will continue to produce further information and views.
For advice on this or any other employment matter please contact Paul Grindley at PaulG@winstonsolicitors.co.uk or call 0113 320 5000
