The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) claims portal opened last Monday (20 April). According to press reports more than 140,000 employers applied for grants under the scheme within the first eight hours of the portal going live. Employers are due to receive their funds within six working days of their application.
It seems that the launch of the portal was not without its teething problems, with reports, amongst other things, of the website crashing, an incorrect reference to a Real Time Information cut-off date of 16 March, rather than 19 March (which has now been corrected) and an online calculator returning incorrect results. As of the beginning of this week 5 million furloughed employees have been registered under the scheme, compared to the government's initial estimate of 3 million.
Meanwhile HMRC has published various pieces of guidance to help employers navigate the scheme. On 17 April it published guidance entitled 'Claim for your employees' wages though the coronavirus job retention scheme: A step by step guide for employers'. It also published guidance on how to work out 80% of employees' wages in order to claim the right amounts under the CJRS scheme.
It then published some briefer guidance on 20 April on how to claim for wages through the CJRS. This covers what an employer will need to make a claim, how to make a claim, and what happens after you've claimed. It has also put together a YouTube webinar on the CJRS which covers eligibility for furloughing, the rules of the scheme, how much can be claimed and how to claim.
Take note: For more details and discussion about the CJRS, you can view the recording of our first Trowers Tuesday Q&A about the furlough scheme here.
