Here is a summary of the details published on the recently announced Job Retention Bonus (JRB). 

Purpose

• Purpose of JRB is to "enhance and consolidate the purpose of CJRS" and no claim for JRB can be made if it is an abusive or is otherwise contrary to the exceptional purpose of CJRS or JRB.

Claim period 

• Claims can be made between 15 February 2021 and 31 March 2021.
• Guidance on how to apply will be made available end of January 2021. 
• The bonus of £1,000 per each eligible employee is a taxable earning for Income Tax and Corporation Tax purposes.  

Eligibility

• Claims can only be made in respect of employees who were eligible for the furlough grant, even if the same employee is also supported by the Job Support Scheme which comes into place on 1 November 2020. 
• If, for any reason, the employer has repaid the furlough grant back to HRMC in respect of a particular employee(s), then the employer is not eligible to receive JRB. 
• Other criteria include: 
  • Employee was continuously employed from the end of the last furlough claim period until the end of January 2021. 
  • Employee is not serving a contractual or statutory notice on 31 January 2021. 
  • The minimum income threshold is met (see below).   

Minimum income threshold 

• The employer must pay the employee a total of at least £1,560 (gross) throughout the following tax months: 
  • 6 November to 5 December 2020 
  • 6 December to 5 January 2021 
  • 6 January to 5 February 2021 
• The employer must pay at least one payment of taxable earnings of any amount in each of the relevant tax months. 

Redundancy 

• The guidance does account for a situation where the employer may have to make redundancies during the JRB period in which case the employer must follow the usual rules of redundancy. 
• What is not clear is whether a consultation can begin before 31 January 2020 and still be eligible for JRB (given no notice will have been served before 31 Jan 2020). 

TUPE

• As a transferee of a business, you may be eligible for JRB if: 
  • TUPE rues applied 
  • PAYE business succession rules applied 
  • Employees were associated with the transfer of a business from the liquidator of a company in compulsory liquidation where TUPE would have applied if the company was not in compulsory liquidation 
• To be eligible as a transferee, the employer must have successfully furloughed the transferred employees as the new employer (as well as meeting all JRB eligibility criteria). 
• "This means that you will not be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus for any employees who are transferred to you after the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme closes on 31 October 2020."