Update on the Job Retention Bonus – October 2020

Update on the Job Retention Bonus

Further to the latest Treasury Direction, issued last Friday (2 October 2020) we can confirm the following updates on the Job Retention Bonus (JRB).

Employers can claim for employees who:

• had an eligible claim made for them under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS);
• have been kept in continuous employment from the end of the CJRS claim for them, until the end of January 2021;
• are not serving their contractual or statutory notice period on the 31^st January 2021, this also includes any employee serving their notice of retirement.
• are paid a total gross salary of at least £1560, during the tax months 6 November to 5 December 2020, 6 December 2020 to 5 January 2021, and 6 January to 5 February 2021. This is to prevent an employer claiming the bonus for employees they have kept on the books but only paying a trivial amount to them before 31^st January 2021;
• the employer must also have made at least one payment of taxable earnings (of any amount) to the employee in each of these tax months. If an employee receives no taxable pay during one of the relevant months, the employer cannot claim the Job Retention Bonus in respect of that individual.

As an Example:

Michael usually earns around £1,800 each month but was off sick and receiving Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for several weeks, including the whole of December. His pay in the relevant tax periods was:

• 6 November to 5 December 2020 – £1,500
• 6 December 2020 to 5 January 2021 – £383.40
• 6 January to 5 February 2021 – £1,750

SSP counts as taxable earnings, so Michael received a payment of taxable earnings in each relevant tax period. The total taxable pay was £3,633.40. This exceeds the minimum income threshold of £1,560. Clover HR can claim the Job Retention Bonus in respect of Michael

HRMC will make a payment of £1000 to employers for each eligible employee. This is a bonus to the employer and does not have to be passed over to the employee.

A claim for the Job Retention Bonus must be presented in a 6-week window between the 15^th February 2021 and 31^st March 2021. There has not yet been any correspondence on how the claim is to be made.

If you would like further guidance on any HR topics please contact Clover HR on 0121 516 0299 or email us at info@cloverhr.co.uk