Further guidance was issued recently by the Government on the Job Retention Bonus scheme that will enable employers to claim £1,000 per qualifying employee.
Further information is to be published in September but the details provided so far give details of which employees qualify, and state that employers can make the claim from February 2021.
The scheme is aimed at encouraging employers to retain employees who have returned from furlough.
The qualifying criteria are as follows:
- the employer has made a qualifying claim for the employee under the Job Retention Scheme;
- the employee has been continuously employed by the employer since the most recent furlough claim through to at least 31st January 2021;
- the employee has earned on average £520 per month for the three months ending 31st January 2021,
- the employee was paid in each month and their earnings have been reported to HMRC via Real Time Information;
- the employee is not serving a contractual or statutory notice period that commenced before 1st February 2021.
The qualifying employees can include full-time and part-time employees, officeholders, company directors and agency workers.
The Job Retention Bonus is an incentive for the employer and does not need to be passed onto the employee, but it is taxable and should be included as income on your tax return.
If you would like to understand whether you might qualify for this bonus then please contact your TC contact or our HR team on 0330 088 7111.