Changes to the Job Support Scheme 2021

On 5 January 2021, HMRC updated its guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has recently been extended until April 2021.

With school and nursery closures, one of the areas of uncertainties was whether parents who stay at home to look after their children are eligible for furlough. The updated guidance has addressed this issue.

The guidance now states that employers can furlough employees whose health has been affected by Covid-19 or any other conditions, if they are unable to work, including from home or working reduced hours because they:

• are clinically extremely vulnerable, or at the highest risk of severe illness from coronavirus and following public health guidance on shielding and protecting extremely vulnerable;

• have caring responsibilities resulting from Covid-19, such as childcare responsibilities as a result of school and childcare facilities closing, or caring for a vulnerable individual in their household.

All other aspects of the furlough scheme remained unchanged. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

Please remember that we at Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP are here to help, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is anything you think we can help with.

For any advice in relation to any particular aspects of the above, please contact a member of the Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie Employment Team: Andrew Wilson (ajpw@wjm.co.uk), Martin Stephen (mss@wjm.co.uk), Liam Entwistle (lae@wjm.co.uk) and John Grant (jzg@wjm.co.uk).