The Treasury has issued a Treasury Direction which provides the anticipated details of the Job Retention Bonus (JRB). Eligible employers will be able to claim this Job Retention Bonus between 15 February and 31 March 2021.
What is the JRB?
A £1,000 one-off taxable payment (per eligible employee) made to employers. This does not need to be paid out to employees.
Who can claim?
Employers are eligible to claim the payment if they have furloughed employees and made valid claims in respect of those employees through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). However, employers who furloughed employees without utilising the CJRS grant, including where the employer has repaid the grant (regardless of the reason for repaying the grant, even voluntary repayments), cannot access the JRB.
Which Employees can the JRB be claimed for?
In addition to the requirement that the employee be previously furloughed and valid claims made under the CJRS, the employee must:
(a) Have been continuously employed from the end of the claim period of your last CJRS claim for them, until 31 January 2021;
(b) Not be serving a statutory or contractual notice period on 31 January 2021;
(c) Have been paid at least the minimum amount (minimum income threshold).
What is the minimum income threshold?
To meet the minimum income threshold the employee must have been paid a total of at least £1,560 (gross) throughout the tax periods commencing 6 November 2020 and ending 5 February 2021. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent claims for the JRB being made in respect of employees who have been kept on but paid trivial amounts.
When can a claim be made?
You cannot claim the JRB until 15 February 2021 and any claim must be presented by 31 March 2021. There are a number of steps that employers will need to take now to ensure that claims for the JRB can be made. Further details are set out within the government guidance.
See the GOV.UK Guidance by clicking here.
See further guidance “example of employer deciding which employees will meet the minimum income threshold for the Job Retention Bonus” by clicking here.
See the full Treasury Direction by clicking here.
Please note that that the GOV.UK Guidance published on 2 October 2020 states that it will be updated by the end of January 2021, with details of how to access the online claim service to make the claim for the JRB.
