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CJRS guidance from 1 May 2021: Get the details right

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Kate Upcraft digs into details of the CJRS scheme extension from 1 May 2021 to 30 September 2021 and uncovers a new round of calculation challenges.

13th Apr 2021
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The new guidance includes how to calculate furlough pay for newly eligible employees who could not claim from 1 November 2020 but were reported on a Full Payment Submission by 2 March 2021. So a claim can be made for the first time for any period 1 May 2021 onwards.

Up to and including 30 June 2021 you can claim, and must pay the employee, 80% of their reference pay for the furloughed hours subject to the monthly, daily or weekly cap.

From 1 July 2021 the scheme will taper off, with employers making a 10% contribution to wages in July, and 20% in August and September. The employee though must still receive the full 80%. A worked example of a July 2021 claim showing the taper can be found here and in example 3.21 here.

Calculate how much you can claim

The key points from the new Calculate how much you can claim guidance are:

As previously you have the choice to calculate the CJRS grant across more than one pay period within a calendar month, or you can continue to claim for each pay period.

  • If you’re claiming for a full month then use the £2,500 monthly wage cap
  • If you’re claiming for any full weeks within a claim ie 1, 2 or 4 week pay frequencies, then use the £576.92 weekly wage cap
  • For any other pay frequency, or a claim length that isn’t exact weeks, use the following maximum day rates multiplied by the number of calendar days in the pay period: see example 3.1 here. The maximum day rates are:
    • £83.34 for April, June and September
    • £80.65 for May, July and August

You are reminded that if an employee has had a pay increase/decrease this will not affect the reference pay that is used to calculate the grant and which must be passed on to the employee.

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Replies (8)

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By DaveyJonesLocker
13th Apr 2021 17:56

Thanks for this, very helpful

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By Moonbeam
14th Apr 2021 09:51

Thank you Kate. I feel my blood pressure rising, and can only hope I won't have many situations where I need your excellent advice.

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By Chris Floyd
14th Apr 2021 11:36

Thanks Kate. Very useful.

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By Hugo Fair
14th Apr 2021 13:41

Excellent summary as always, Kate.
Just a thought (from the old cynic in the corner) ... by the time that most of us have fully understood all the rules (at each stage of the evolution of CJRS), it will hopefully have disappeared - and the only purpose of all that hard-won knowledge will be to review/defend earlier claims!

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By sbeardon
14th Apr 2021 15:43

I have an employee who joined on 26 Oct 2020 but missed the RTI deadline. Then as the employer is a pub they were locked down from 5th Nov to 2 Dec, then locked down again from 26 Dec. How do I work out the furlough for this employee?

Is it just a case of adding up all the earnings then dividing that by actual days/weeks worked

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Replying to sbeardon:
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By Hugo Fair
14th Apr 2021 19:54

1. Do you really mean "How do I work out the furlough for this employee?"
If so, the answer is that you can pay whatever you like to a furloughed employee - subject only to the usual (non-Covid related) employment laws and that person's contract of employment ... so long as it includes any money received by the employer under a CJRS claim related to the employment of that employee for that period.

2. I presume you meant how do you calculate any CJRS claim related to any furloughing of this employee?
If so, all the guidance is available on GOV.UK - starting at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus...

3. Without repeating or trying to precis all the guidance, the first step is to check on eligibility (of the employer and then of the specific employee).
Based on what you say ("employee who joined on 26 Oct 2020 but missed the RTI deadline"), I presume you mean that the employee is NOT eligible - as Employer "must have made a RTI submission to HMRC between 20 Mar 2020 and 30 Oct 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee."

If my presumption at point 3 is correct, then you can loop back to point 1.

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By sbeardon
19th Apr 2021 16:03

Hi Hugo

2. Yes I did mean what CJRS claim relating to furlough for this employee but the guidance does not appear on gov.uk website yet

3. The employee was not eligible for furlough pay as was not on an RTI submission prior to 30 October but the new rules states that she will be eligible from 1 May.

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By [email protected]
19th Apr 2021 15:45

I think HMRC's example 2.3 may be wrong. The days multiple for the period 6th May to 19th May should be 14 not 13.

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