Amid the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial support had been a critical lifeline for businesses and employees. At People Matters HR, we provide up-to-date information and guidance on the COVID-19 financial support measures that played a pivotal role during these times.
Staff Retention Scheme update 24th March 2020
As I’m sure you’re aware, things changed daily. Getting precise information from ACAS, HMRC, CIPD or the Government was challenging.
However, there was no clarity about the 80% salary payment. The terminology is reimbursement or grant. It may have been needed for claiming it later.
Monthly paid staff paid in March wouldn’t have seen the effect until the end of April, when the portal should have been up and working.
Again, if it’s a grant or reimbursement at least in the first month you would have been paid April’s salary and then get it back. I updated the Furlough letter to reflect that.
If you were not trading, this may have caused hardship, particularly if you had weekly paid staff. You could use the Government help to alleviate this, i.e. Business Rates grants, Coronavirus Interruption scheme and VAT deferral.
Another option was to consider laying off your staff, if their contract permitted. Paying them £145 guarantee pay (pro-rata), adding them to the Furlough list and paying them the 80% once it’s received.
As I have said, we did not know how the portal would work, how you would have been reimbursed and how this worked with payroll. We were working to provide updates promptly but keep in mind that the situation remained fluid.
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