The 2021 National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates
The Government has announced the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates which will come into force from April 2021. It accepted in full recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission at the end of October. The 2021 National Living Wage will increase by 2.2 per cent from £8.72 to £8.91 and will be extended to 23 and 24 year olds for the first time. For workers aged under 23, smaller increases were recommended in recognition of the risks to youth employment which the...
Extension of Job Retention Scheme to March 2021
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in November, which will have a major effect on both employers and payroll departments. In this article we look at the initial guidance and note that there will be further review for guidance from February 2021 onwards. CJRS will now remain open until 31 March 2021. Because of these changes, both the Job Support Scheme and the Job Retention Bonus are postponed, and further information will be provided at a later date if...
The Return of Furlough for November Payroll
Just as we were expecting that the Job Support Scheme would start on 1st November, replacing the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (usually known as the furlough scheme), it has now been announced that The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended for a month, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked. In this article we summarise the details. Furlough Scheme Details for November 2020 As before, employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are...
Covid-19 and Payroll. Latest News
October Furlough Changes From 1st October, the amount employers can claim for furlough drops to 60%, up to a cap of £1875.00 per month, with the employer having to make up 20% of gross pay, so employees still receive 80% of their pay. This will be the final month of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Job Support Scheme From 1st November, a new Job Support Scheme will be introduced to protect jobs where businesses are facing lower demand over the winter months due to COVID-19. Under the new...
HMRC blocked thousands of furlough applications
HMRC has blocked thousands of applications for the government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) due to fears that they were fraudulent. More than 30,000 CJRS applications have been rejected by HMRC, according to reports. At the end of June, 1,526 CJRS claims were rejected because the companies applying had ceased trading. An additional 23,899 applications were rejected because businesses didn't have any employees on their payroll for the 2019/20 tax year. HMRC reportedly believes many...
