Job Retention Scheme Bonus

In true HMRC style, further details of the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) bonus were published on Friday in a policy paper that can be accessed here.  It is actually a very simple premise: if your JRS submissions are accurate and up to date, each eligible employee continuously employed through to the end of January may earn you a £1,000 bonus from the Government.  

Of course, there are conditions:

Eligible employers must:

• have submitted a claim for a grant through JRS
• pay and file PAYE accurately and on time under the Real Time Information (RTI) system for all employees
• maintain enrolment for PAYE online
• have a UK bank account

In addition, HMRC have also considered potential reviews for missing/incorrect data.  Employers may not receive the bonus claim unless they "keep their payroll up to date and accurate and address all requests from HMRC to provide missing employee data for historic Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims".

Where HMRC believes that a claim has been made with fraudulent intent, they will withhold payment of bonus until their enquiries are completed. 

Eligible employees are those who:

• were furloughed and were included on a claim under the JRS - and were eligible under JRS
• have been continuously employed from the date of the employer’s most recent claim for that employee until at least 31 January 2021 - it will therefore exclude any employee who was furloughed, made redundant or otherwise terminated their employment and were re-hired
• have been paid an average of at least £520 a month from 1 November 2020 to 31 January 2021, or £1,560 across the 3 months BUT must have received some earnings in each of the 3 calendar months AND reported to HMRC via RTI
• have up-to-date RTI records for the period to the end of January
• are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period, that started before 1 February 2021

Employers can claim the Job Retention Bonus for all employees who meet the above criteria, including office holders, company directors and agency workers, including those employed by umbrella companies. The above criteria must be met regardless of the frequency of the employee’s pay periods, their hours worked and rate of pay.

In addition, employees can be included under TUPE rules, PAYE rules on business succession or compulsory liquidation orders, as long as the conditions above are met.

Returns & recommendations

In all the above measures, accurate and timely submissions of RTI returns and JRS claims are key in ensuring a smooth pathway to bonus payment.  It is recommended that all employers make sure that any under/over claims are corrected as soon as possible (see our JRS Part II for further details) and also your supporting data for eligibility to JRS is thorough and complete as this will be reviewed by HMRC should they raise an enquiry.

The JRS Part II document has been updated with the above bonus scheme rules .  

Any questions, please email me.