Job Retention Bonus – Government publishes detailed guidance

The Government has published the detailed guidance on the Job Retention Bonus (JRB). As announced previously, the Job Retention Bonus is one-off £1,000 taxable payment for each eligible employee furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021. The bonus itself can be claimed between 15 February 2021 and 31 March 2021.

You can claim for employees that:

  • you made an eligible claim for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
  • you kept continuously employed from the end of the claim period of your last Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claim for them, until 31 January 2021
  • are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period for you on 31 January 2021 (this includes people serving notice of retirement)
  • you paid enough an amount in each relevant tax month and enough to meet the Job Retention Bonus minimum income threshold (see below).

It is important to note that employers will still be able to claim the Bonus for employees receiving support through the recently announced Job Support Scheme, which will supersedes the CJRS.

You may be eligible to claim the Job Retention Bonus for employees of a previous business which were transferred to you if:

  • TUPE rules applied
  • the PAYE business succession rules applied
  • the employees were associated with the transfer of a business from the liquidator of a company in compulsory liquidation where TUPE would have applied if the company was not in compulsory liquidation.

However, to be eligible for the bonus you must pay your employee a total of at least £1,560 (gross) throughout the tax months:

  • 6 November to 5 December 2020
  • 6 December 2020 to 5 January 2021
  • 6 January to 5 February 2021.

Businesses must do the following now to make sure they are ready to claim:

  • still be enrolled for PAYE online
  • comply with PAYE obligations to file PAYE accurately and on time under Real Time Information (RTI) reporting for all employees between 6 April 2020 and 5 February 2021
  • keep payroll up to date and make sure you report the leaving date for any employees that stop working for you before the end of the pay period that they leave in
  • use the irregular payment pattern indicator in Real Time Information (RTI) for any employees not being paid regularly
  • comply with all requests from HMRC to provide any employee data for past Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims.

Read more here.

Determining which employees meet the minimum income threshold for the Job Retention Bonus

Along with the announcement of the details of the Job Retention Bonus, the Government has published resources to help employers determine eligibility and how to calculate claims. Read more here.

CJRS – 30 November deadline

Finally, also associated with this, the Government is also highlighting to businesses that 30 November 2020 is the last day they can submit claims for furloughed staff for periods ending on or before 30 October 2020.