
Luton Borough Council was prosecuted by the HSE late last year following an incident at a high school in which an assistant headteacher was attacked by a pupil and left with life-changing injuries.
Please note that this ebriefing relates to certain specifics of the guidance only and is correct at the time of writing, 14 April 2020.
Shielding employees (in line with public health guidance)
You may remember from our last ebriefing, here, that the Government had rather muddied the waters with their last update on this issue. The previous wording appeared to limit the availability of furlough for shielding employees to only those whose jobs were at risk of redundancy. Thankfully, the updated guidance is clear; shielding employees (and those who need to stay at home with someone who is shielding) can be furloughed without their role needing to be redundant.
TUPE transfers post 28 February 2020
Before the update, the status of employees who had transferred under TUPE post 28 February was a precarious one. As they were not on the transferee’s payroll on 28 February, there were excluded from being furloughed. Thankfully, for any transferring employees, the new guidance states that the transferee is now eligible to claim under the furlough scheme for transferring employees who transferred after 28 February 2020 “if either the TUPE or PAYE business succession rules apply to the change in ownership”. This makes sense as TUPE is in place to protect transferring employees and it would fly in the face of this protection to exclude them from the scheme.
Sick leave and furlough
Holidays during furlough
Non-UK employees and furlough
The Government has clarified that foreign nationals can be furloughed. Employees on all categories of visa can be furloughed as the grant offered to employers under the scheme will not be defined as “access to public funds”.
Pension payments
Employers will be reimbursed for the minimum automatic enrolment employer contributions of 3% on employees’ qualifying earnings based on the employee’s subsidised furlough pay. We would advise that employers retain an electronic record to demonstrate to the HMRC that this pension contribution has been made.
Practicalities of the scheme
HMRC have announced to the Parliamentary Select Committee that the online portal will be open on 20 April 2020 with the first reimbursements made on 30 April 2020; very welcome news for most employers.
To process a claim, employers will need the following;
Employers will need to calculate the amount that is being claimed. However, HMRC will retain the right to audit all aspects of any claim. As noted in our last briefing, HMRC are requesting that records be kept for five years denoting that this right will most likely be exercised.
Please contact Libby Hubbard.
Luton Borough Council was prosecuted by the HSE late last year following an incident at a high school in which an assistant headteacher was attacked by a pupil and left with life-changing injuries.
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