Tag Archive for: Coronavirus Job Retention scheme

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The extended furlough scheme: who can claim?

Embrace HR furlough scheme

As the UK went into a second lockdown earlier this month, Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that the furlough scheme would be extended. Find out how it applies to you and your employees…

Although the second UK lockdown is set to end at the beginning of December, Rishi Sunak has recognised that companies may be affected for longer than that and has therefore extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until the end of March 2021.

Like the original scheme, which was set up in March, the current plan will see the government paying 80% of employee’s wages, with a cap of £2,500 a month. The Chancellor said that his aim was to give businesses security over the winter period and to protect millions of jobs.

The scheme replaces the Job Support Scheme, which had initially been planned to be put in place once the first Furlough scheme came to an end, and it is good news for employees as this new plan is far more generous.

How does it work?

Employers are able to claim 80% of an employee’s salary for any hours not worked with a cap of £2,500 a month. You must confirm in writing to your employee that they have been furloughed and a written record of this must be kept for five years.

Who can be furloughed?

You must have been employing the member of staff on 30 October 2020 (and you must have made a PAYE RTI submission to the HMRC notifying a payment of earnings for them at any time between 20 March and 30 October 2020). This does not apply if you are employed as a member of staff after 23 September 2020.

It is important to note that you do not have to have made any claim on the furlough scheme before 30 October 2020.

How many employees can I claim for?

The extended furlough scheme has no upper limit on the number of employees you claim for and you are not limited to the staff that you claimed furlough for during the first lockdown in March.

What about staff on maternity leave?

If you have staff on maternity leave, who would rather be furloughed (because that pay will be higher than Statutory Maternity Pay), they must give you eight weeks’ notice to end their leave early.

I employ an apprentice, can they be furloughed?

Yes they can, and they can continue their training while on furlough, However, note that they must be receiving wages that are at least the same as the Apprenticeship Minimum Wage/National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage while they are training. So as an employer you must cover the shortfall between that amount and the amount you can claim for their wages.

I made my employee redundant…

If employees stopped working for you or were made redundant on or after 23 September 2020, it is possible to re-employ them and put them on the new furlough scheme.

There are a variety of rules for different employment conditions, you can check them here [GOV.UK: Check which employees you can put on furlough to use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme 14/05/20 Updated 19/11/20].

If you would like to discuss this subject further, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

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Key Points of Furlough Scheme Extension

Embrace HR furlough scheme

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced details of the extension of the furlough scheme – here we round up the key points for HR professionals…

Following the original furlough announcement at the beginning of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown, details have now been released for the extension of the scheme, which will run until the end of October 2020.

We are pleased to see, as we suggested recently that from July it will be possible to bring staff back to work part time, so that they are partly furloughed and partly employed. This will be vital to help companies keep things moving and to ensure that important preparation, maintenance and admin work is done.

June continues as before, but changes start from July, when furloughed employees can work part time, and then we see the scheme tapering off, with more of the burden of paying salaries returning to the employer.

Here’s our month by month guide

June

The government will continue to pay 80% of furloughed workers wages for this month. This is capped at £2,500, plus employer pension contributions and national insurance.

Your company does not have to pay out anything, although some businesses are topping up the 20% of their employees’ salaries.

This is the last month when you can furlough an employee – the cut-off date is 10 June. The scheme is closing on 30 June to new applications, but you must show that your member of staff has been furloughed for three weeks up until that date, so ensure to keep clear records.

July

The government will continue to pay 80% for wages as detailed above.

Companies will also be able to start bringing back employees on a part-time basis. In this case, the company will pay them for the hours they work (including pension and national insurance contributions), while the government will continue to pay 80% for the furloughed hours. The capped figures will apply in proportion to the hours not worked.

August

While the government still pays 80% of wages, the burden for pension and employer national insurance payments reverts back to the employer.

September

This month, the government will drop its percentage payment to 70% of salaries, with a cap of £2,190. Your company must pay the extra 10%, along with pension and national insurance contributions.

October

This month sees the scheme winding up. The government payment drops again, to 60% with a cap of £1,875. So, your business will need to make up the extra 20% plus pension and national insurance.

 

To apply for the furlough scheme for your company, visit the gov.uk website.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and find out how we could help you navigate the furlough scheme and other COVID-19 related issues, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 01296 761 288 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

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Returning to Work during COVID-19 – Things to Consider

Embrace HR Aylesbury Returning to Work during Covid pexels-polina-zimmerman-4008565

As the government encourages construction and manufacturing businesses to get staff back to work unless they can work at home, we take a look at what SMEs need to consider to ensure their staff are kept safe…

The current message from the government is now for businesses to start getting back to work if they possibly can. And with a clearer idea of how long the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) is to go on for, and a plan for getting people gradually back to work in place, now’s the time to look at how to manage staff back.

For now, anyone who can work from home should do so, but the government is suggesting that other employees get back to work by June where appropriate. The CIPD has said that employers should meet the requirement of a three-point checklist before bringing staff back to work. These are as follows:

  • Firstly, that it is essential for employees to be present in the workplace
  • Secondly, that it is safe for them to be there
  • And thirdly, that both employers and workers agree that they should come back into the workplace.

The workspace

The key questions to pose before your office staff return to work are:

  • Can they still work from home?
  • When they do come back to work how will that be achieved to maintain social distancing and minimise the risk and spread of infection?

You must consider how staff can safely distance from each other, not just when sat at a desk, but when walking around the office, using the toilet and drinks areas. You need to work out safe walking routes around the workspace and, if space is tight, consider splitting shifts or alternating days so that you don’t have all of the staff in at all times. Screens should only be used if you have no more space to distance employees, and meetings should be avoided. If they must take place, keep everyone distanced or take it outside if possible. Hot desking is also to be avoided. If someone has to use another desk, computers and phone, or other equipment, these should be thoroughly cleaned between users.

Changing the way you work

Perhaps this whole situation has made you realise that your staff can work from home. Maybe you don’t need an office or can utilise a smaller space. Now is a good time to consider how your business might look in the future. Start looking at the implications of people working full time from home – what do you need to do to make this happen – for instance:

  • Do you need a more robust IT provision in place?
  • What extra insurance cover will you need?
  • Have you been using Microsoft Teams or other collaborative software? Can this work in the future? If not, consider what sort of software and systems you need to make the shift in order to work more effectively and efficiently.

Getting to work

The message is that the youngest school children and those in Year 6 (age 10-11) will go back to school first. For some of your staff this will mean that they have children who cannot be left at home alone. Remember that even if your staff have slightly older children, they may have needs that mean they cannot be left at home all day either. Also, staff who need to use public transport may be unwilling to do so. In both cases, you need to have an open discussion with them about what the alternatives are:

  • Can they continue to work from home?
  • Can they work different hours to avoid going on busy transport systems, or work around a partner’s work hours to enable childcare?

Keeping safe

Government guidance says that all employers should be carrying out risk assessments on returning to work, consulting both with their workers and trade unions where applicable. If you employ more than 50 people you will be expected to publish the risk assessment on your company website.

To keep any contact to a minimum, staggered shifts and keeping staff in the same teams are good ways to minimise the number of people with whom they come into contact.

On construction sites, staggered arrival times and multiple entrances are suggested, along with screens to separate workers. Where social distancing is not possible, workers should work back to back or side by side. Swapping of tools should be avoided to lessen the risk of contamination.

In addition, in factories, plants and warehouses, employers should look at how people can work away from each other, in order to maintain the required social distancing, and to stagger the times and locations of breaks.

Working in other people’s homes

If your staff work in people’s homes, such as carers and support workers, or even nurses, they should discuss how social distancing will be achieved. However, working with people means often being close to them. They may require personal care which means that social distancing is not possible. There are other areas to consider. Recommendations can be to leave all internal doors open to minimise touching door handles; restricting the number of people working in normal busy areas such as kitchens and bathrooms; and the mantra of ‘wash hands on arrival and regularly throughout’ cannot be repeated enough. And, of course, it should go without saying that everyone – whether in the home or workplace – should try and minimise the spread of infection.

Restaurants

Keep kitchen access limited to essential staff to minimise any contact. If the kitchen is large enough, install screens to separate workers and only allow one person to enter walk-in freezers and pantries at one time.

Shops

Shops should limit customers in the premises to maintain social distance, use contactless payment where possible and reduce customer service to enable the safety for staff.

Vehicles

If your staff use the company’s vehicles, they should be provided with hand sanitiser and cleaning products. Keep staff in teams so that contact is minimised and supply screens to keep them separate if possible. Contact for deliveries should be kept to a minimum, using online payment and pre-arranging for goods to be dropped off in a safe and secure area.

 

You can read the full government guidance on working safely here.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and find out how we could help you with work from home contracts, risk assessments, staff safety, the furlough scheme and other COVID-19 related issues, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 07767 308717 or contact us here.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

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Being Flexible About Furlough

Woman sitting on luggage flexible furlough Embrace HR

With so many companies furloughing their staff so quickly, there is now some essential work that needs doing – some flexibility would help companies, especially SMEs, to keep afloat…

With two-thirds of British companies using the furlough scheme during the COVID-19 crisis, it is no surprise that important tasks that should have been done before everyone left the office have been missed. It all happened so quickly that, especially for SMEs, who do not have a lot of manpower, many important back-ups were not put into place.

The problem is that once an employee has been furloughed, they are not supposed to do ANY work whatsoever. However, in real life, business cannot just come to a full stop like that, and there is work still to be done. For example, out-of-office replies need to be set up on emails, calls and emails need to be redirected, websites and social media need updating, and clients need to be contacted. Loyal and conscientious staff may want to ‘volunteer’ to undertake these roles so that things don’t fall through the cracks, and in the hope that there will be a business for them to go back to when this is all over. However, under the current rules, this is not possible.

The CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development) is calling for increased flexibility within the scheme, so furloughed employees can work reduced hours for their existing employer where possible.

Flexible furlough

It is in these situations where we at Embrace HR would support a scheme that allowed for a more flexible furlough scheme – one where employees were 50 per cent furloughed and 50 per cent employed, for example. We appreciate that there would be some additional administration required for this to work, but as the situation continues we believe it would be more realistic and give smaller businesses more opportunity to help keep their companies afloat until we can all get back to work. It would also help employees to keep abreast of the business and client requirements and would enable them to ease back into the workplace. Many people have had to adjust to working remotely, and those with children have had the added responsibility of having to find time to school them. This has caused changes to working in a ‘traditional’ office, and daily commuting.

“Flexible Furlough will, in my opinion, go some way to supporting both businesses as well as employees”, said Embrace HR Director Cecily Lalloo.

Holiday allowance

Something that has been updated within the scheme is the Government’s guidance about annual leave during the furlough period. The new guidance will make it easier for employers to plan ahead. It states says that employees will still accrue their holiday allowance while on furlough. The government has relaxed the regulations and now permit 4.6 weeks’ holiday to be carried over to the next two years.

Something else that has been made clear is that staff can take holiday during the furlough period. This would mean that they would be paid 100 per cent of their usual renumeration salary. The employer can still claim 80 per cent of the holiday pay from the Government but would have to top up the other 20 per cent.

We have been lucky that the weather in the UK has been glorious since lockdown began, and many people may feel like they are on holiday anyway. But the real concern is that once people go back to work, they may still want to take their holiday time. Many staff will not have claimed any holiday during the first part of the year. If a small company has five employees, with the statutory paid holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks (in normal circumstances), they will be expecting to take a total of 140 days’ holiday between the end of lockdown and the end of the year. This is quite a lot of time out of a small business.

For smaller companies, especially those struggling to recover, this may be difficult to manage and is going to be unsustainable, particularly if they have to pay for temporary or freelance cover when staff take holidays. It is a good idea for business owners and managers to consider how they will manage holidays, and to talk to their people.

Rolling over holiday allowance

At the end of March, the Government announced that staff who did not take all of their annual leave – because it was not practical for them to do so – because of the virus, would be allowed to carry it over into the next two years. This applies to most businesses with a few exceptions.

You may like to read our previous article on furloughing staff – good news as furlough deadline is extended.

To apply for the furlough scheme for your company, visit the gov.uk website.

If you would like to discuss this subject further and find out how we could help you navigate the furlough scheme and other COVID-19 related issues, please contact Cecily Lalloo at Embrace HR Limited.

T: 07767 308717 or contact us here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports business owners who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and also SMEs based in London.

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Who is a Key Worker : Coronavirus Update from Embrace HR

Embrace HR Aylesbury key worker pexels-anna-shvets-3683098

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update

Good evening. We’re sharing our updates for anyone who might visit our website. The scene is changing constantly and we urge you to listen to the broadcasts and update yourself on the gov.uk website, or other official paths such as HSE.

In this Update we will cover some of the FAQ’s that we have been receiving.

What is the difference between sick leave and self-isolation?

In the current situation sickness absence will cover employees:

  • Who test positive for the virus
  • Who show symptoms of the virus
  • Who self-isolate because they have been told to do so by the NHS.

Self-isolation means staying at home and avoiding contact with other people. Employees who self-isolate because of one of the above sickness absence reasons will qualify for SSP.  Employees who choose to self-isolate without any of the above, should follow the normal absence procedures and will be entitled to unpaid or annual leave.

Employers have a duty of care to protect all staff and in some cases it may be necessary to suspend an employee on medical grounds, for example pregnant employees, to ensure their safety. Employees who are suspended for this reason will be entitled to full pay.

Self-employed people who have to self-isolate do not qualify for SSP, however, they may be able to claim employment support allowance if they meet the conditions.

Employee’s should check their symptoms using the NHS 111 service, not their GP. https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19/

Employers should continue to carry out Return to Work Interviews with employees after a period of sickness absence to make sure they are fit to return to work and find out if there is any support the employer can provide. Please contact Embrace HR, if you would like more information about this.

Can an employee continue working if they are a carer / support worker and the individual being cared for has symptoms of Coronavirus?

Transmission should be minimised through safe working practices such as wearing personal protective equipment, cleaning and disposing of waste regularly, not shaking dirty clothes. A risk assessment should be carried out to ascertain if the employee’s family may be at risk, for example if they have children or the elderly living with them. Each case should be considered separately.

Can an employee continue working if they are a carer / support worker and the individual being cared for is part of a household that is isolating?

If the individual can remain at a safe distance from the person in the house with symptoms, then care can be provided without additional precautions. One example being are there separate bathroom facilities?

For more guidance on the government website for those working in people’s homes, please click on this  link:

Which roles are classified as Key Workers?

The government has specified who Key Workers are. There are many Key Workers, a large majority in the NHS, but also individual carers and support workers are Key Workers such as police, doctors, paramedics, teachers, social workers, case managers, transport workers,

and so many others. For more guidance on Key Workers please access the government website by clicking on this link.

What is the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme?

The Job Retention Scheme involves organisations designating employees as ‘furlough workers’, which is a way to keep employees on payroll without them working, and without them being laid off or made redundant. The government will pay up to 80% of furloughed employee’s wages to a max of £2500 per employee per month.

“Furloughed workers

If your employer cannot cover staff costs due to COVID-19, they may be able to access support to continue paying part of your wage, to avoid redundancies.

If your employer intends to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, they will discuss with you becoming classified as a furloughed worker. This would mean that you are kept on your employer’s payroll, rather than being laid off.

To qualify for this scheme, you should not undertake work for them while you are furloughed. This will allow your employer to claim a grant of up to 80% of your wage for all employment costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

You will remain employed while furloughed. Your employer could choose to fund the differences between this payment and your salary, but does not have to.

If your salary is reduced as a result of these changes, you may be eligible for support through the welfare system, including Universal Credit.

We intend for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to run for at least 3 months from 1 March 2020, but will extend if necessary.”  Excerpt from gov.uk

The scheme is available to all organisations with no restriction on size or type. However, it is only intended to cover organisations who cannot cover staff costs due to COVID 19. It is not known what an organisation will need to show in order to qualify. Employers will need to submit their information to the government via an online portal. More information will follow regarding this.

Organisations will be able to claim for any employee on the PAYE system.

It is likely that contracts which contain the right to lay-off employees on unpaid leave can also be used to designate furlough workers. If contracts do not contain a right to unpaid lay-off, organisations can ask the employee to agree to become a furlough worker.

The finer details of this scheme are not yet known and we shall update further when we know more.

What do I need to consider if my employees are working from home?

The CIPD (2020) have identified the following top ten tips for employers regarding homeworking:

  1. Review your homeworking policy. Make sure it addresses how employees will be supervised, how the organisation and line managers will communicate with them and how performance and output will be monitored.
  2. Confirm employee rights.Homeworkers must be treated the same as office-based staff, with equal access to development and promotion opportunities.
  3. Confirm contact methods and regularity. Advise homeworkers to establish when and how they will have contact with their manager; reporting in at regular times can also help combat isolation and stress.
  4. Providing equipment.There is no obligation for employers to provide computer or other equipment necessary for working at home, although, given the latest Government advice, employers should do what they can to enable home working.
  5. IT and Broadband.Employers should confirm in the contractual arrangements if the employee is expected to cover the broadband cost (plus heating and lighting) or if the employer will contribute towards these costs and, if so, to what extent.
  6. Think about health and safety obligations. Employers are responsible for an employee’s health, safety and welfare, even when working from home.
  7. Carry out risk assessment.Employers should usually conduct risk assessments of all the work activities carried out by employees those working from home.
  8. Review working time and length of period.Will employees need to be available for work during strict office hours or work a specified a set number of hours per day?
  9. Clarify salary, benefits, insurance, tax.Salary and benefits should obviously remain the same during a period of homeworking, although changes to expenses may be appropriate if normal travel expenses and allowances are no longer needed.
  10. Data protection.Employers should make sure data protection obligations are maintained and employees using their own computer should still process information in compliance with data protection principles.

How can we help? Contact us by clicking on this link

For more information and guidance on any of the issues mentioned, please contact Embrace HR through our contact form here.

KEEP WELL EVERYONE. KEEP SAFE.

Embrace HR Team

23 March 2020

If you would like to discuss this or any HR subject further  please contact our Team at Embrace HR Limited.

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here.

Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Embrace HR Limited supports SMEs and care packages who do not have their own HR department or those that do but need help from time to time. We also work across the Home Counties of Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and London.