REWARD
Job retention bonus – the key facts
Danny Done, managing director of Portfolio Payroll, outlines salient eligibility and operational issues, based on government guidance published in July
T he government’s Plan for Jobs, released on 8 July 2020 (see the article The Summer Economic Update in this issue), includes a job retention bonus (JRB) to provide additional support to employers that keep their furloughed employees in meaningful employment after the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) ends on 31 October 2020. The JRB is a one-off payment of £1,000 for every furloughed employee who meets the eligibility criteria. An employer receiving the JRB must include the amount as income when calculating taxable profits for corporation tax or self-assessment. All employers, including recruitment agencies and umbrella companies, that furloughed staff are eligible for the JRB. At this stage there appears to be no limit either on the number of employees for whom the JRB can be claimed or on the size of the employer. Employers will be able to claim the JRB from February 2021 via GOV.uk. More information will be published in September 2020. The JRB can be claimed for employees who: ● were furloughed and had a CJRS claim submitted for them which meets all relevant eligibility criteria for the scheme ● have been continuously employed by the company from the time of its most recent claim for that employee until at least 31 January 2021 ● have been paid an average of at least
£520 a month between 1 November 2020 and 31 January 2021 (a total of at least £1,560 across the three months). The employee does not have to be paid £520 each month but must have received some earnings in each of the three months that have been reported via RTI. Only earnings recorded through RTI records will count towards the £520 minimum limit. More detailed guidance on this will be published in September 2020 ● are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period, which started before 1 February 2021, for the employer making a claim. Also within scope of the JRB rules are office holders, company directors and agency workers, including those employed by umbrella companies. Employers can claim the JRB for employees on fixed-term contracts that are extended or renewed provided that continuity of employment is not broken, and all other criteria are met. They will also be able to claim the JRB for employees who were transferred to them under ‘TUPE’ (transfer of undertakings protection of employment) law provided that they, as the new employer, furloughed the employee and successfully made a claim under the CJRS for them. This also applies to employees of a previous business who transferred to the new employer where the PAYE business succession rules applied to the change of ownership. In both cases, the employees must have transferred on a date which
falls by the end of the CJRS (i.e. 31 October 2020). Employers cannot claim the JRB for any employee who transferred after this date. Under the CJRS, a cut-off date of 10 June 2020 operates after which no employee could be furloughed for the first time. However, those on maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental or parental bereavement leave which started before and ended after 10 June were exempt from the cut off, as were those employees who were on a period of mobilisation with the Reserve Forces which started before and ended after this date. Employers can claim the JRB in relation to these employees whose furlough started after 10 June 2020, provided all other criteria are met. To prepare for claiming the JRB, employers should ensure their: ● employee records are up-to-date, and are accurately reporting details and wages in their RTI full payment submission returns, and ● claims to the CJRS have been accurately submitted and that they have notified HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of any necessary amendments to them. Failure to maintain accurate payroll data may jeopardise a claim so it is important for employers to keep their payroll up to date and address all requests from HMRC to provide missing employee data in respect of historic CJRS claims HMRC will withhold payment of the JRB where it believes there is a risk that CJRS claims may have been made fraudulently or inflated, until they have completed an enquiry. Where a claim to the CJRS was incorrectly made, the JRB will not be paid. n
...one-off payment of £1,000 for every furloughed employee who meets the eligibility criteria.
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2020 | Issue 63 46
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