Furlough leave update: how to claim it

Further information emerged yesterday on the employer claim portal being established by HMRC. It appears that the portal for claims will be open on 20 April 2020 with the first payments to be made by 30 April 2020. It is being live tested at the moment and the objective is to make payments within 5 – 6 working days of an application being made. A guidance document on the lodging of claims will be available within a week.

Employers will be able to submit claims for relevant pay periods (weekly or monthly) and payments can be applied for up to 14 days in advance. HMRC has also confirmed that there are no plans to extend the scheme to those who started work after 28 February 2020.

The claim is for a pay period for each individual (not a furlough period for the employer) and it seems therefore employers would have to lodge multiple claims to cover the whole furlough period but the logistics are yet to be published.

In addition, it has been confirmed that employees who TUPE’d to a new employer after 28 February will be covered by the scheme and it seems from the latest ACAS guide that holiday (not just bank holidays) can be taken over furlough. The guidance suggests that during any period of holiday, normal holiday pay would have to be paid (not just furlough pay).

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates as they become available. The guidance is changing almost daily and as such it is important to monitor updates as further clarification is published.

To view our previous blogs on furlough leave, please click here.

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