Further to the new guidance published by HMRC, the following is a summary of the new Flexible Furlough Scheme, with effect from the 1 July:
Only employees who have already been furloughed for the minimum period of three weeks (from the cut-off date of the 10 June, except those returning from family leave), are eligible.
Flexible furlough can be implemented for the first time from the 1 July, including part-time arrangements.
The minimum furlough period (currently three consecutive weeks) will no longer apply.
Flexible furlough agreements can last for any period of time.
Any claim through the CJRS portal must be in respect of a minimum one week period (meaning employers can only put in four claims a months, not 31).
Employers will be required to “keep a new written agreement” when implementing flexible furlough.
Employees should be paid in full for the hours worked.
CJRS grants remain available for normal hours not worked. Thus, employers can claim a pro-rata’d amount of 80% of salary, based on the proportion of hours not worked out of normal working hours.
To calculate the normal working hours for those with variable pay, you take the higher of (a) the average number of hours worked in the tax year 2019 to 2020, or (b) the corresponding calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020.
All the latest guidance is on our website: www.barrco.org.uk/blog