The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was launched to support employers during this time of uncertainty caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. Its sole purpose was to minimise job losses. However, there are a fair amount of questions have been asked around eligibility and monitoring.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The Government originally stated that only employees who were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on 28^th February 2020 will be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The reason for this was, presumably, to prevent abuse and to stop employers from employing friends and family in order to make claims from the Government in respect of 80% of their salary. It also provides an easy way for HMRC to police the system.

The government has since revised the cut-off date for employees to be eligible for furlough leave to the 19^th March 2020. This is will help protect those who had just started a new job at the time the government announced lockdown.

The forgotten employees

However, a large number of employees will end up losing their jobs, through no fault of their own and will be left with a significant reduction in their income. 

Many employees are subject to notice periods of between 4 and 12 weeks, a significant number of employees will served their notice to terminate their employment with their previous employer in order to start a new role before the Coronavirus pandemic hit the UK. 

Many of these individuals will have been looking forward to commencing their new jobs, but will have been disappointed when their new employer is unable to employ them because their place of business has temporarily closed down and/or is suffering financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19. 

The government’s aim is to “stand by” those affected by the pandemic and retain as many jobs as possible, particularly for those whose jobs would have otherwise been lost. Urgent attention and support is needed for the number of people who were in-between jobs when the crisis occurred.

Here to help

The employment team at Terry Jones are here for you throughout this crisis. If you have any questions regarding your employment or eligibility for furlough leave, please do not hesitate to contact us on enquiries@terry-jones.co.uk.