CJRS extended to 30 September 2021
Following two previous extensions, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) was due to close on 30 April 2021. The Chancellor has now announced a further extension of the scheme until the end of September 2021.
The rules of the CJRS summer extension will remain largely unchanged. This means both full-time furloughing as well as flexible furloughing continue to be permitted, as at present, until 30 September. However, the scheme will be subject to a return of last summer’s tapering provisions, with employers required to contribute 10% in July and 20% in August and September towards the hours their staff do not work as well as employer National Insurance (ER NICS) and pension contributions.
The tapering means:
- Now to 30 June: The government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 monthly for hours the employee does not work, as well as ER NICS and pension contributions. Employers are not required to pay anything.
- From 1 to 31 July: The government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 10% of wages to make up the 80% total (up to a cap of £2,500).
- From 1 August to 30 September: The government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and 20% of wages to make up the 80% total (up to a cap of £2,500).
This extension of the scheme will give employers further time to plan in the hope and expectation that the impact of the vaccine programme and subsequent lockdown easing will allow them to trade more normally. An alternative approach would have been for the government to target the support to specific industries hardest hit by the pandemic, but clearly this wider support will give more breathing space not just to those industries but all employers and their staff continuing to face challenges.
For more detail on the CJRS generally, see our CJRS extension Q&A
Connie Cliff
Connie Cliff helps clients to manage their strategic employment, board and senior executive issues, and resolve employment law disputes quickly and commercially.