Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Eligibility Updates

You may remember an article we released in March 2021 in connection with Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of his Spring Budget for 2021 which revealed that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) would be extended until 30 September 2021.

Well, since then, it has emerged that the eligibility criteria in connection with the CJRS has also been extended to include employees who were hired between 31 October 2020 and 2 March 2021 inclusive.

The Government guidance provides the following:

• For periods from 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021, employers can claim for employees if they were employed on or before 30 October 2020, so long as they have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.
• For periods on or after 1 May 2021, employers can claim for employees who were employed as at 2 March 2021, so long as they have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee. Employers do not need to have previously claimed under the scheme for an employee before 2 March 2021 to claim for periods starting on or after 1 May 2021. Put simply, employers can begin to claim furlough for employees who were employed as at 2 March 2021 from 1 May 2021.

Anyone employed on or after 3 March 2021 is not eligible to be furloughed under the CJRS.

The following table has been amended to reflect the extension of the CJRS and the deadlines for submitting claims:

Contact our Employment lawyers in Sussex and Kent

For more information on employment law issues and the impact of Covid-19, please contact Victoria Regan or Amy White in Rix & Kay’s Employment Team.