COMPLIANCE
CJRS receives twelfth hour reprieve
SamanthaMannMAATMCIPPdip, CIPP policy and research technical lead , delves into the intricacies and timings of recent sudden changes which unsurprisingly have prompted concerns for payroll professionals
T he year 2020 will be remembered for many reasons. For the professionals serving employers through the delivery of payroll services, whether for colleagues or clients, 2020 has provided us with ample tests of our ability to respond to change in a way we could never have imagined even in our wildest nightmares. With just 24 hours until it was due to go live, guidance was finally published for the job support scheme (JSS). However, within 24 hours of this prime minister Boris Johnson was announcing that a four-week period of lockdown in England would begin from 5 November. This led to the announcement that the JSS would be postponed and the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) would continue for a further month, subsequently confirmed by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak. The various Covid-19 restrictions may have prevented us from having anyone knocking at our doors on 31 October, for the annual trick or treat goodies, but we didn’t entirely escape this Halloween tradition. Did the news from the prime minister and the chancellor deliver trick or treat?
JSS batted to the long grass with JRB Originally, the prime minister said that the CJRS would be extended until December but in an announcement on 5 November, the official date England started its national lockdown, the chancellor declared that CJRS would be extended until 31 March 2021, with no gap from 31 October when the scheme was due to close. The rate of government support would return to the rates we last saw in August 2020, with government funding 80% of usual pay up to a monthly cap of £2,500. The employer would be required to fund all on-costs for employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and minimum employer pension contributions. Employees can be furloughed in full, for any period or time, or be required to work for a proportion of their usual hours and be furloughed for the remainder of their usual working hours. To be eligible, an employee will need to have been on the employer’s PAYE (pay as you earn) scheme as at 30 October and have been in a RTI (real time information) PAYE submission between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020.
Claim deadlines Although claims can be made in advance of paying furlough payments, they must be made by the 14th following the month being claimed. If the 14th is a non-working day, the claim deadline moves to the first available working day. See table.
Claim for
Submitted by
November 2020 14 December 2020
December 2020 14 January 2021
We know from talking to members that this reduced claim deadline has not proved popular. Having a month after the claim period was tight enough for employers that want to ensure their claims are accurate. Reasons received for not being able to claim by the 14th, include: ● complexity of claim calculations ● audit and double checking needed for data and claims ● existing and complex payroll processes and timelines ● limited resources available for payroll and claims processing ● conflict between normal business-as- usual operational issues of a payroll. January 2021 15 February 2021 February 2021 15 March 2021 March 2021 14 April 2021
...extended until 31 March 2021, with no gap from 31 October when the scheme was due to close.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | December 2020 - January 2021 | Issue 66 16
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