There will be some changes to the furlough scheme from 1 December 2020. You will no longer be able to claim for furlough for notice periods of your employees.
If you are having to make redundancies you must do so in accordance with the normal rules. You need to give a notice period and consult staff before a final decision is made. Communication with your staff is key throughout the redundancy process. For claim periods relating to November, you can continue to claim for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period. However, grants cannot be used to substitute redundancy payments.
For claims periods starting on or after 1 December 2020, you cannot claim for any days on or after 1 December 2020 during which the furloughed employee was serving a contractual or statutory notice period (including those serving a notice period for retirement or resignation). If an employee subsequently starts a contractual or statutory notice period on a day covered by a previously submitted claim, you will need to make an adjustment via the government website. You may have to pay all or some of your grant back if you have over-claimed. Additionally, if you no longer need it, you can voluntarily repay the grant back.
If you make an employee redundant, their statutory redundancy and statutory notice pay should be based on their normal wage. It should not be based on their reduced furlough wage.
If you have made an employee redundant or they stopped working for you on or after 23 September 2020 you are able to re-employ them and place them back on furlough. This is as long as they were employed by you on September 23 and you made a PAYE RTI submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.
This is the latest update regarding furlough. If you would like to see further information and previous updates regarding the furlough scheme please see our detailed update.
If you have any concerns or would like to discuss furlough further, please get in contact with the HPC team today.
T: 0844 800 5932
E: contact@highperformanceconsultancy.com
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