We now have a Policy Paper on the extension which applies to claims made from 1 November until 31 January 2021. It is the government's position that this will be reviewed in January 2021 and that claims from February 2021 will be dealt with in a further guidance following the review.

A full guidance on the extension scheme to apply from 1 November will be published on 10 November 2020. 

Summary 

• Retrospective agreement is possible (see Consent below) 
• Extension of CJRS from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021 (albeit with a review coming in January 2021)  
• Employees to receive 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked up to £2,500pm
• Employees can be furloughed for any period of time, whether full-time or part time 
• Rotational furlough is possible as before 
• Claim period must be for a minimum of 7 consecutive calendar days 
• Can claim from 8am on Wednesday 11 November 2020 
• Claims relating to November 2020 must be made by 14 December 2020
• JRB has been put on hold for obvious reasons as has JSS  

Eligibility 

• No need for employers to have used CJRS previously 
• No need for employees to have been furloughed under CJRS previously 
• Employees were on PAYE payroll on 30 October 2020
• Employer must have made RTI submission to HMRC between 20 March and 30 October 2020 
• Furlough can be on full time or flexible basis and employers will be able to vary the hours worked in agreement with the employee 
• Those shielding in line with the shielding guidance can be furloughed as well as those who are currently off sick if they are eligible to do so (but SSP cannot be paid at the same time in relation to the same employee alongside furlough grant) 
• Those who were employed on 23 September 2020 but were terminated afterwards can claim furlough if they are hired back by the employer provided the RTI submissions were made to HRMC between 20 March to 23 September 2020

Claimable costs 

• Employer contributions will be the same as in August 2020 i.e. 
• Employer must pay usual wages for hours worked (along with NICs and pension contributions) 
• Employer must pay only NICs and pension contributions for hours not worked 
• Employer must pay NICs on the full amount that they pay the employee, including the grant under furlough 
• The claim period must start and end with the same calendar month i.e. no overlapping months 

Consent 

• Employers should discuss with their staff and make any changes to the employment contract by agreement. 
• Employers must have confirmed to their employee in writing that they have been furloughed or flexibly furloughed. 
• Employee does not have to provide a written response.
• The terms of any agreement must: 
  • reflect the hours the employee has actually worked or not worked 
  • allow the employer to satisfy the terms of CJRS so that they can make a claim in relation to hours not worked 
• Retrospective agreement that has effect from 1 November is valid so long as it is made in line with the abovementioned conditions
• Only retrospective agreements put in place up to and including the 13 November 2020 may be relied upon for the purposes of a CJRS claim. 

During CJRS 

• Employees cannot during unworked hours do any work for the employer that makes money or provides services for the employer or any linked organisation. 
• They can however: 
  • take part in training 
  • volunteer for another employer 
  • work for another employer if contractually allowed