Somewhat puzzlingly to some of us, employers have been able to put employees on furlough and notice at the same time and then claim the CJRS rebate from the Government covering up to £2,500 of notice pay per month.
Naturally, we advised those of our clients who were forced to make redundancies to take advantage of this to mitigate the costs involved, meaning that although they had to top up the employees pay to 100% for notice periods, at least some of the cost was covered.
When the (now defunct) Job Support Scheme was announced in October (this you will remember was meant to replace the CJRS when it ended on 31st October 2020) it clearly stated that you could not make a claim for employees who were serving notice. However, when the extended furlough scheme was announced it did not say anything about claiming the grant during notice periods, so we hoped that the extended scheme would be the same as the original version.
Next, we heard that if notice was issued on or after 1st December employers would not be able to claim the rebate and advised that if you were intending to issue notice to do so by 30th November 2020.
Then, late on Friday afternoon, another iteration from the Government; from 1st December 2020, this clarifies that you will definitely not be able to make a claim for any period of time that the employee is serving notice.
Now, to be fair, the wording still isn’t particularly clear, but for the moment that is how we are reading it and that fits with the advice we are receiving.
So, be aware that if your employee is serving notice (for whatever reason, disciplinary dismissal, redundancy, resignation etc) you will have to meet the full cost, 100%, for any period of notice which falls on or after 1st December 2020.
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Please note, this briefing is accurate at the time of writing and intended as guidance, it is subject to change as the COVID-19 and Government advice changes; it is not intended to replace advice so please do call us if you have any queries.
