Jul 2021
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Furlough Claims - Key dates you need to know
Employers need to make a claim for their grant for their furloughed workers through HMRC's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online service. This is where employers can claim for some of their employee’s wages if they have put them on furlough or flexible furlough because of COVID-19.
Furlough claims must be submitted within 14 calendar days after the month they relate to, unless this falls on a weekend, in which case the deadline is the next weekday. The next deadline for claims relating to June 2021 will be 14th July 2021. Employers can make claims before, during or after the payroll is run.
Employers can only make one claim per claim period, so you must include all furloughed and flexibly furloughed employees in the one claim, even if you pay them at different times. When claiming for employees on flexible furlough, employers will need to report hours worked along with the worker's usual hours in a claim period. Therefore, it is best to make a claim once you’re sure of the exact number of hours your employees will work so that you don’t have to amend your claim at a later date.
It’s important to note however that if the pay period crosses two calendar months, two separate claims are required to reclaim the furlough pay, for example, a claim in June would be needed to cover the dates falling in June and a claim in July will be needed for the dates falling in July.
Employers need to make a claim through HMRC’s online claim portal to avail of the scheme. BrightPay payroll software includes a CJRS Claim Report which can be used to ascertain the amounts needed for input into HMRC’s online service.
Find out more about how BrightPay caters for COVID-19 functionality by booking a free online product demo. BrightPay’s overall response to COVID-19 was rated 99.1% in a recent customer survey from May 2021, and this included payroll upgrades, webinars, online guidance and customer support.
Related articles:
- Timetable of changes for CJRS
- BrightPay’s COVID-19 Resources Hub
- How COVID-19 has accelerated payroll transformation
