Flexible furlough scheme starts today (1 July)

From 1 July 2020, furloughed workers can return to work on a flexible, part time basis. Employees will still be entitled to receive at least 80 percent of their reference pay (subject to a cap of £2,500 per month) for non-working time (pro-rated against any working hours).

The government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has so far helped protect more than 9.3 million jobs through the pandemic, with employers claiming more than £25.5bn to support wages.

From 1 July, employers can bring furloughed employees back to work for any amount of time and any work pattern, while still being able to claim the grant for the hours not worked. From this date, only employees that you have successfully claimed a previous grant for will be eligible for more grants under the scheme. This means they must have previously been furloughed for at least 3 consecutive weeks taking place any time between 1 March and 30 June 2020.

31 July is the last day that employers can submit claims for periods ending on or before 30 June.

From August, the level of government grant provided through the CJRS will be slowly tapered to reflect that people will be returning to work. From August, employers must pay National Insurance and pension contributions, then 10% of pay from September, rising to 20% in October.