Job Retention-online from 20th April.

Employees who were employed and on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 19 March 2020 are eligible
for furlough, provided the employer had submitted RTI (real time information) payroll data by that
date.

Employees that were employed and on the employer’s PAYE payroll as of 28 February 2020
(RTI submission on or before 28 February) and were made redundant or stopped working for you
after that, and prior to 19 March 2020, can also qualify for the scheme if you re-employ them and
put them on furlough.

How to claim

As you prepare to make a claim, please note:

• the online claim service will be launched on GOV.UK on 20‌‌ April 2020 – please do not try to access it before this date as it won’t be available
• the only way to make a claim is online – the service should be simple to use and any support you need available on GOV.UK; this will include help with calculating the amount you can claim
• you can make the claim yourself even if you usually use an agent
• claims will be paid within 6 working days; you should not contact HMRC unless it is absolutely necessary – any queries should be directed to your agent, representative or HMRC webchat service
• HMRC cannot answer any queries from employees.

To make claims through the new HMRC online portal, access is restricted to those businesses and agents that are authorised to act on behalf of clients for PAYE matters. File only agents, such as payroll providers, will not be able access the service due to data protection reasons.

Information you will need before you make a claim

• a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if you don’t already have a GG account, you can apply for one online, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘HMRC services: sign in or register’
• be enrolled for PAYE online – if you aren’t registered yet, you can do so now, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for ‘PAYE Online for employers’
• the following information for each furloughed employee you will be claiming for:

1. Name.
2. National Insurance number.
3. Claim period and claim amount.
4. PAYE/employee number (optional).

Written Furlough Agreements

Again it has been stated that employers must have signed written agreements of furlough leave with employees and that these must be kept for 5 years. If you have not done so already, these free forms are available to download from our members area.