Changes to CJRS from 1 September

There are changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) from 1 September.  Employers need to know that:

  • From 1 September CJRS will pay 70% of usual wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 per month for the hours furloughed employees do not work.
  • You will still need to pay your furloughed employees at least 80% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. You will need to fund the difference between this and the CJRS grant yourself.
  • The caps are proportional to the hours not worked. For example, if your employee is furloughed for half their usual hours in September, you are entitled to claim 70% of their usual wages for the hours they do not work up to £1,093.75 (50% of the £2,187.50 cap).
  • You will continue to have to pay furloughed employees’ National Insurance (NI) and pension contributions from your own funds.

HMRS stress that it is important that you provide all the data needed process your claim. You can find everything you’ll need to make your claim on GOV.UK, including a useful calculator and guidance on the data you need to provide, and the format you need to use to ensure your claim is accepted. Search for ‘claim for wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’.

If you’re claiming for 100 or more employees, there is a downloadable template to help you – search ‘download a template if you’re claiming for 100 or more employees through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ on GOV.UK.

If you need to check older guidance – for example, information for your claims ending on or before 30 June – you can search ‘check if you can claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ or ‘check which employees you can put on furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ on GOV.UK.