On 31st October, the UK Government announced an extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and is not due to end on 30th November 2020.

Calculating Furlough for New Employees

Whilst the previous versions of the scheme (v1 & v2) required employees to be employed on/before 28th February 2020, any new employees or those that were previously not furloughed can qualify for this scheme if they were employed and details sent via payroll to HMRC on/before 30th October 2020.

The calculations remain the same as the previous scheme, however if you are calculating average pay for the first time then you will need to be paying 80% of the higher of either:

  • the wages they earned in the same calendar period in the 2019 to 2020 tax year;
  • the average wages payable in the 2019 to 2020 tax year; or
  • the average wages payable from 1 February 2020 (or the date that the employment started, if later) until 30th October 2020.

All other details remain similar to August 2020’s CJRS Period, where 80% is contributed by the UK Government and the Employer pays National Insurance (NICs) and Pension Contributions.
Please note that employees must be furloughed for a minimum of 7 consecutive days.
How to Submit Payroll – For clients using Talk Staff’s CJRS Reclaim Service.

In preparation for calculating any claims, you will need to submit your payroll in a specific format to ensure that Talk Staff’s Payroll Team can accurately calculate the value of the claim for approval.

100% Furloughed Employees

For any employees that are furloughed for 100% of the period, then you will need to enter the following columns:

  • Furlough Rate – e.g. 800 (based on 80% of a £1000 wage)
  • November Furlough Hours NOT Worked (Units / Hours) – e.g. 1 Hour

We will then pay 1 hour @ £800 with the payslip clearly stating Furlough_November as a description.

If you wish to make a top-up, then you will need to also include:

  • Topup Rate – e.g. 200 (based on 20% of a £1000 wage)
  • Topup Hours November – (Units / Hours) – e.g. 1 hour

Part-Time/Flexibly Furloughed Employees

You may also wish to place some employees on reduced hours during the furlough period and this should be clearly displayed as before; not exceeding their standard hours and include the following additional columns:

  • Usual/Standard Hours: e.g. 162.5 (per month, based on a 37.5-hour week)
  • Furlough Rate – e.g. £6.57 (based on 80% of £8.21 per hour, paid in the prior year)
  • November Furlough Hours Worked – e.g. 62.5 hours
  • November Furlough Hours NOT Worked (Units / Hours) – e.g. 100 hours (the balance between worked and usual/standard hours)

If you wish to make a top-up, then you will need to also include:

  • Topup Rate – e.g. £1.64 (based on the difference between a new rate of £8.72 and paid rate)
  • Topup Hours November – (Units / Hours) – e.g. 100 hours (for hours not worked)

All hours worked or holidays will need to be paid at 100% of their current rate.

How do I furlough my employees?

Talk Staff’s HR Support & Advice Service is available for new and existing clients, supporting you with the correct letters to issue and can also assist you with preparations for the upcoming Job Support Scheme (JSS) – Get in touch for more information.