New Job Retention Bonus guidance now available for employers

New Job Retention Bonus guidance is now available. It includes information about how you can check if your employees are eligible and when you can claim the bonus.

What and for who will I be able to claim?

You will be able to claim:

a one-off payment
of £1,000
for every eligible employee you furloughed and claimed for through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
and kept continuously employed until at least 31 January 2021.

Employers do not have to pay this money to their employees.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible, employees:

must earn at least £1,560 between 6 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 and
have received earnings in the November, December and January tax months.
must also not be serving a contractual or statutory notice period on 31 January 2021.

How and when can I claim?

You will be able to claim the bonus from 15 February until 31 March, once you have submitted PAYE information for the period up to 5 February 2021. HMRC will let you know how you can make a claim when further guidance is published by the end of January.

Employers can still claim the Job Retention Bonus if they make a claim for the same employees through the Job Support Scheme, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria for both.

What you need to do now

If you intend to claim the Job Retention Bonus, you must:

keep your PAYE submissions up-to-date and on time, with Real Time Information (RTI) reporting for all employees, including reporting the leaving date for any employees that stop working for you in the month they leave or the next Full Payment Submission
use the irregular payment pattern indicator in RTI for any employees not paid regularly
provide any employee data for past CJRS claims that HMRC has requested
make sure all your CJRS claims have been accurately submitted and you have told us about any changes needed (for example if you’ve received too much or too little).