Claiming Furloughed Workers' Wages: Lessons Learnt

• Published date: 07 May 2020
• Author: Ms Dana Ewans and Edward Smith
• Subject Matter: Coronavirus (COVID-19), Employment and Workforce Wellbeing
• Law Firm: Vistra

20 April 2020 marked the one-month anniversary of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) announcement by UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. It was also the date that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) long-awaited Online Portal – the mechanism by which employers with a UK payroll can reclaim 80% of furloughed workers' wages – went live.

By the end of the first day, an estimated 140,000 companies submitted claims through the Portal. Because of the fervour that accompanied applications, the Portal had to be taken down at 8:00 am due to capacity issues. It had only opened at 5:30 am.

Key lessons have since been learnt about how the CJRS will work in practice, including around how companies should approach submitting their claims. Here are just a few.

Access to the Portal
Employers can access the Portal through the Government Gateway. Accordingly, companies will need to have a Government Gateway User ID and password to make use of the CJRS. If they would like their payroll provider to make claims on their behalf, that provider will need to have been appointed as their Agent. Companies will also need to be registered for PAYE Online, have a UK bank account and have submitted RTI (Real Time Information) payroll data about each of the employees they are claiming for, to HMRC, before 19 March 2020.

All companies intending to access the CJRS will need to submit certain information through the Portal, for HMRC to assess the eligibility of a claim. Not providing the required information may delay payment. Companies will also need to take specific steps after submitting a claim to retain documentation and notify employees.

Claim Period
Guidance on the CJRS has always suggested that HMRC would permit the submission of one claim per company, per pay period. What was not clear was how this would work in practice, how HMRC would police this and how companies were expected to deal with furloughed workers where different start and end dates for furlough leave were a factor.

It is now clear that eligible companies must establish a "claim period" (which, in most cases from April onwards, will be the start and end of a month) and notify HMRC of this as part of their claim. One claim only, encompassing the wage costs of all furloughed workers within a claim period, should be submitted. A company can then submit a further claim in its next claim period.

For example, if you are claiming for the period 1 May to 31 May, you should include the full amount you are...