The government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to 19th March 2020.
The extension is set to see thousands more employees now being eligible to be furloughed, giving them much needed support during the Coronavirus pandemic and is set to be fully operational next week.
The scheme, announced last month by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, allows employers to claim a grant to cover 80% of the wages for a furloughed employee – capped at £2,500 a month.
The qualifying period for the scheme was originally 28th February although this has now been extended, so employers can now claim for furloughed employees that were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020.
This change is expected to benefit over 200,000 employees, with HMRC working to get the scheme fully operational next week.
You can find out more about the changes here:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/furlough-scheme-cut-off-date-extended-to-19-march