Got kids? If your employee is unable to work because they are ‘caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing’ then they can be furloughed. This was confirmed by HMRC on 5 January 2021.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until 30 April 2021. This was announced late last year and confirmed by the 5th Treasury Direction which was issued on 26 January 2021.
Employees will receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. This cap is proportional to the hours not worked. Employers will not be required to contribute or top-up for the hours not worked.

The government will meet the pay of the employee up to this cap, but the employer remains responsible for meeting the pension and national insurance contributions (NIC) costs. The employer will, of course, pay the employee for the hours actually worked in the normal way.
This means that the extended CJRS scheme is more generous than it was in October and therefore it will mirror the terms of the CJRS for August 2020.

To be eligible under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30 October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30 October 2020.
The employee does not need to have been furloughed previously. This is a significant change to the rules.

The grant must be paid to the employee in full.

The reference to pay and the ‘usual hours’ will differ depending on whether the employee has been furloughed previously under the original CJRS or not.