20 April 2020 marked the one-month anniversary of the
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) announcement by UK
Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. It was also the date that Her
Majesty's Revenue and Customs'
(HMRC's) long-awaited Online Portal – the mechanism
by which employers with a UK payroll can reclaim 80% of furloughed
workers' wages – went live.
By the end of the first day, an estimated 140,000 companies
submitted claims through the Portal. Because of the fervour that
accompanied applications, the Portal had to be taken down at 8:00
am due to capacity issues. It had only opened at 5:30 am.
Key lessons have since been learnt about how the CJRS will work in
practice, including around how companies should approach submitting
their claims. Here are just a few.
