Coronavirus: Job Retention Scheme Extension

On 31st October the Prime Minister announced that the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) would be extended for a further month.

We are awaiting finalised information but currently available information is summarised below:

The Job Support Scheme has been postponed and will be reviewed once the extended JRS has finished
The new furlough scheme will be open until December with the government providing grants of 80% for non-worked hours up to a cap of £2,500
Employers National Insurance and Pension Contributions will not be covered by this grant and will remain the responsibility of the employer
Neither the employee or the employer needs to have used the previous JRS
Employees must have appeared on an RTI submitted by the company on or before 30th October 2020
Calculations are expected to reference usual hours and be similar to the current JRS
Full and flexible furlough will be able to be claimed
Reports and claims must be made for a minimum period of 7 consecutive days
The employer can still choose to top up employees’ pay
We await confirmation of when claims can be made but there will be no gap in support.