Following the confusion that arose with the new guidance early last week, the government has updated its guidance on whether employers can reclaim notice monies under the furlough scheme.
In an important change, the position now is that:
For claim periods starting on or after the 1 December 2020, an employer cannot claim for any days on or after the 1 December 2020 during which the employee was or is serving a contractual or statutory notice period. This does not just include those serving notice for redundancy but retirement or resignation.
For periods prior to the 1 December 2020, the situation remains unclear:
Under the employer’s guidance, claims may be made if the employee is serving the statutory minimum notice only (one week for each complete year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks after 12 years). The guidance is silent on whether a contractual notice period which is longer than the statutory period can be claimed.
However, under the employee’s guidance, it says notice is still claimable, without differentiating between statutory and contractual.
No doubt further guidance will follow on this.
As always, do get in touch if you wish to discuss this further.
Employee guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
Employer guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
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