Update To Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme And Legislative Scheme

HMRC has published an updated version of its guidance on the furlough scheme and the Government's Direction setting out the underlying legislative scheme has also been published.

Please see our answers to Frequently Asked Questions and articles on this subject here.

Key changes and clarifications in the guidance and direction are as follows.

Change to qualifying date

Employers who started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 19 March 2020 and enrolled for PAYE online can now claim for furloughed employees who were on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020 but only where an RTI submission to HMRC relating to the employee was made on or before 19 March 2020.

While this will include some new starters who were previously excluded from the scheme, its impact could be limited as many employees starting in March will not have been notified to HMRC through RTI until later in the month.