The Job Retention Bonus

HMRC have published additional information on the Job Retention Bonus, including details on how to check if you are eligible and what you need to do now to get ready to claim.

You can find this by going to GOV‌.UK and searching ‘Job Retention Bonus – Policy Statement’.

Job Retention Bonus

Employers will be able to claim a one-off payment of £1,000 for every employee they have previously received a grant for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and who remains continuously employed through to the end of Ja‌nu‌ar‌y 2021.

To be eligible, the employee must have received earnings in November, December and January, and must have been paid an average of at least £520 per month, and a total of at least £1,560 across the three months.

As the employer you will be able to claim the bonus after you have filed PAYE information for Ja‌nu‌ar‌y 2021, and the bonus will be paid from Fe‌br‌ua‌ry 2021. More detailed guidance, including how employers can claim the bonus online will be available by the end of September.

What you need to do now

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

ensure all employee records are up to date
accurately report employees’ details and wages on the Full Payment Submission (FPS) through the Real Time Information (RTI) reporting system
make sure all of your CJRS claims have been accurately submitted

Reminder of changes to CJRS

From the 1^st of Au‌gu‌st 2020 CJRS continue to provide grants for furloughed employees but no longer funds employers’ National Insurance (NI) and pensions contributions. Employers now have to make these payments from their own resources for all employees, whether furloughed or not. HMRC guidance has been updated to reflect these changes.

Further guidance and live webinars offering more support on changes to the scheme and how they impact you are available to book online – go to GOV‌.UK and search ‘help and support if your business is affected by coronavirus’.

Making sure your data is right

It’s important that you provide the data needed to process your claim. Payment of your grant may be at risk or delayed if you submit a claim that is incomplete or incorrect.

National Insurance numbers

Employers need to provide a National Insurance number (NINO) for all employees as part of their CJRS claim. The only exception is in the very limited circumstances where an employee genuinely does not have a NINO, for example if they are under 16 years old.

If you are claiming for an employee whose NINO you don’t currently know, you can check their number by searching GOV.UK for ‘Check a National Insurance Number using basic PAYE Tool’.

Claimed too much in error?

If you have claimed too much for a CJRS grant and have not repaid it, you must notify HMRC and repay the money by the latest of whichever date applies below:

90 days after receiving the CJRS money you’re not entitled to
90 days from when circumstances changed so that you were no longer entitled to keep the CJRS grant
20^th of Oc‌to‌be‌r 2020 if you received CJRS money you’re not entitled to, or if your circumstances changed on or before the 22^nd of J‌ul‌y.

If you don’t do this you may have to pay a penalty.

How can I let HMRC know I’ve claimed too much?

You can let HMRC know as part of your next online claim. The system will prompt you to add details on if you have received too much.

If you have received too much and do not plan to submit further claims – or you have claimed less than you were entitled to – contact HMRC by searching ‘Contact HMRC’ on GOV‌.UK.

For more information, search for ‘if you claim too much or not enough from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme’ on GOV‌.UK.

Protect yourself from scams

Stay vigilant about scams, which may mimic government messages as a way of appearing authentic and unthreatening. Don’t give out private information or reply to text messages, and don’t download attachments in emails you weren’t expecting. Search ‘scams’ on GOV‌.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact. You can also forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.