Within the statement the Chancellor advised that his three-point Plan for Jobs focused on:
- Support to find jobs
- Job Creation
- Job Protection
To achieve this a number of schemes aimed at helping employers were announced. These include:
- Kickstart Scheme
- Traineeships
- Apprenticeships
In addition to this, and the focus of this article, is the Job Retention Bonus.
The Job Retention Bonus is to incentivise employers to keep furloughed employees on after the furlough scheme finishes at the end of October 2020. The announcement confirmed that employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed on 31 January 2021.
We do not currently have all of the detail on the Job Retention Bonus and it has been confirmed that further detail will be provided by the end of July.
However, we do know that the bonus has been introduced as the Chancellor confirmed the Furlough Scheme must come to an end and wanted to incentivise employers to get as many people back from furlough to their jobs.
In addition, as we understand based on the information currently available, the following also applies:
- In order to qualify for the bonus furloughed employees must be continuously employed through to the end of January 2021.
- There is a requirement for employees to earn above the Lower Earnings Limited (£520 a month) on average between the end of the CJRS and the end of January 2021.
- The amount of bonus is the same regardless of the actual salary of furloughed employees
- Unlike the CJRS, this is a bonus for the employers and does not need to be paid to or used to benefit staff.
- Payments will be made from February 2021
There are a number of outstanding issues on which we require further clarification when more detail is announced at the end of July and we will look to provide a further update of the position then.
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