The Job Retention Scheme online portal, parental bereavement leave, Government consultations and parental leave during furlough all feature in this month’s edition of Quick fire.
Job retention scheme: online portal now open
The HMRC portal through which employers must apply for a grant in respect of any ‘furloughed’ staff opened for applications on 20 April 2020. HMRC reported that on the first day, 185,000 employers submitted claims totalling £1.5bn on behalf of 1.3 million staff. The portal can be accessed here.
Government guidance on the scheme has been updated and republished a number of times since the scheme was announced on 20 March 2020. For the latest guidance see:
- guidance for employers: check if you can claim for your employee’s wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
- step by step guide: claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
- how to calculate what to claim: work out 80% of your employees’ wages to claim through the Coronavirus Job retention scheme.
For a detailed overview, see our job retention scheme article.
Parental bereavement leave and pay
The Government has published new guidance for employers on the new statutory right to parental bereavement leave and pay, which came into force on 6 April 2020.
The new right provides for up to two weeks of leave for all bereaved parents following the death of a child under 18 or a stillbirth, paid at the same rate as other statutory parental leave entitlements (£151.20 per week from 6 April 2020) if the parent has been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks.
The new guidance explains what the entitlement comprises, who is eligible to take it and whether they are entitled to be paid, the notice requirements and employers’ record-keeping obligations.
Government consultations
A consultation on the Government’s proposal to introduce a new right to carer’s leave, which was included in the Queen’s speech in December 2019, is currently open for responses.
It is proposed that the new right would allow carers to take an additional period of one week’s unpaid leave per year. The consultation seeks views on who should be eligible to take the leave, what the purpose of the leave should be and notification requirements. The consultation closes on 8 June 2020. There is currently no proposed timeframe for the introduction of this new right.
In addition, the Government has published a response to its consultation on neonatal leave and pay, which forms part of its Good Work Plan. It has confirmed that it will bring forward legislation under the proposed Employment Bill to implement a new right for parents to take an additional week of leave in respect of every week their baby is in neonatal case, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. It is anticipated that this additional leave will be paid at the statutory rate for eligible employees. There is currently no proposed date for this right to be implemented.
Parental leave payments during furlough
Amendment regulations came into force on 25 April 2020, dealing with the calculation of ‘normal weekly earnings’ for the purposes of calculating statutory maternity pay (SMP) and other parental leave pay entitlements during a period of furlough leave.
As a result of these regulations, if an employee is on furlough leave for all or part of the relevant period for the purposes of calculating SMP (or other parental leave pay, such as paternity and adoption leave pay), the rate should be calculated on the basis of the pay she/he would have received if she/he were not furloughed. This means that statutory payments for any period of parental leave starting on or after 25 April should be based on an employee’s normal pay rather than their furlough pay.
This article is from the April 2020 issue of Employment and Immigration Law Update, our monthly newsletter for HR professionals. To download the latest issue, please visit the newsletter section of our website. For further information please contact Liz Stevens or another member of Birketts’ Employment Law Team.
Key Contacts
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at April 2020.