The Treasury issued new furlough directions on 27th January 2021.
Furlough pay for March and April 2021 should correspond to pay in March and April 2019 and specifically not to pay in March and April 2020. This is because lots of people were already furloughed in March/April 2020. Furlough pay should be 80% of normal pay and not 80% of last years’ furlough pay.
This also applies to ‘normal hours’ – so 80% of the contractual hours in March and April 2019 and not the hours worked in March and April 2020.
If you need to amend a claim, the deadline has been moved from the 15th of the following month to the end of the following month.
Don’t forget that furlough is now flexible so your employees could work different hours each week but do be careful to keep a good audit trail. You need to keep that audit trail for a minimum of 5 years and, given the number of reported furlough frauds that need to be investigated, you would be wise to keep the trail longer than 5 years.
Furlough has been formally extended to April 30th. The directions actually say April 31st but that is clearly wrong unless, of course, the Treasury know something the rest of us do not!
As always, contact me if you have any queries. 07766 167160 or brenda.davidroper@btinternet.com