What you need to know about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Your employees are the backbone of your business and the Government’s Job Retention scheme launched to support businesses during the Coronavirus is welcomed by furloughed employees and employers.

For many, the grant application process is an added layer of stress during a very difficult time in your personal and business life. We can help.

At Murrison and Wilson, we are sharing details of the Job Retention scheme to give support and guidance employers need during these unprecedented times.

When can I apply for the grant?

The portal to make the grant application goes live on Monday 20th April 2020.

How do I apply for the job retention scheme?

It will be an online application process and the system has been designed to process up to 450,000 claims per hour.

It is also hoped businesses can expect to receive the grant payment between 4 and 6 workings days after the claim has been submitted on the portal.

To make a claim please note the following –

  • The claim process will be online only. You can’t do this via the telephone. HMRC are warning of severe delays if you phone with queries.
  • To make the claim you will need the following for each furloughed employee in respect of the first claim period
    • National Insurance Number
    • Salary
    • National Insurance contributions made by the employer
    • Pension contributions made by the employer
    • Date the employee was furloughed from
  • You will also need the following
    • Name and phone number of the person in your business to call with any questions.
    • The bank account and sort code number of the account that the grant has to be paid into
    • The PAYE scheme reference number along with your UTR number or Company UTR as applicable.

Get ready now. We would suggest you start to pull together the required information now to be ready to make the claim quickly in due course.

Where you run your own payroll it might also be prudent to ensure you can access your Government Gateway account for PAYE as it will be through this method that the claim will be made.

If you use an agent to run the payroll for you they will be able to submit the claim on your behalf. You should make sure they have the relevant information detailed above as soon as possible.

Latest guidance for employers and employees on the Job Retention Scheme can be found at Guidance to employers and businesses about COVID-19

Stay safe