As we move into August, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) takes on a new phase with the government making it more flexible.

Before July, employees that were placed on furlough could not undertake work for you. Originally, the scheme was only for employees who were not working, and while on furlough, an employee could not undertake work for or on behalf of the organisation.

What is flexible furlough?

From 1st July, businesses have the flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim under the CJRS for hours not worked. This new flexibility will help businesses with reopening and help boost the economy.

The government will continue to pay 80% of furloughed employees wages for any normal hours that they do not work, up until the end of August, and 70% and 60% thereafter as per the wind down timeline. But the important thing to note here is that the employer will have to pay employees for the hours that they do work.

For example, if a furloughed worker returns to work for two days per week, they will need to be paid as normal by their employer for these two days, while the government would cover the other three days.

Employers will decide the hours and shift patterns their employees will work on their return, and so employees can work as much or as little as the business needs, with no minimum time that they can furlough staff for.

Any working hours arrangement agreed between a business and their employee must cover at least one week and be confirmed to the employee in writing. You must keep a written record of the agreement for five years and keep records of how many hours your employees work and the number of hours they are furloughed (i.e. not working).

What if employees are unable to return to work?

If employees are unable to return to work, or employers do not have work for them to do, they can remain fully furloughed and the employer can continue to claim the grant for their full hours under the existing rules.

From 1st July, employers will only be able to claim for employees who have previously been furloughed for at least 3 consecutive weeks any time between 1st March 2020 and 30th June 2020.

Is there an exception?

An exception to this however is where you have employees returning from statutory parental leave after 10th June who you wish to furlough for the first time. An employee returning from statutory parental leave after 10th June can be furloughed for the first time provided that:

  • You have previously submitted a claim for any other employee in your organisation in relation to a furlough period of at least 3 consecutive weeks taking place any time between 1 March 2020 and 30 June
  • The employee you wish to furlough for the first-time started maternity, shared parental, adoption, paternity and parental bereavement leave before 10 June and has returned from that leave after 10 June
  • The employee was on your PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 19 March 2020