We’ve had a handful of enquiries from organisations about claiming via the CJRS whilst some of their employees are serving either statutory or contractual notice.
It’s important to reiterate that from December 2020 furlough grants can no longer be used to cover any form of notice period.
“For claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020, you cannot claim for any days on or after 1 December 2020 during which the furloughed employee was serving a contractual or statutory notice period for the employer.”
This applies regardless of who served the notice and so, for example, will cover such situations as when an employee resigns, or serves notice of their intention to retire.
If an employer has made a claim for an employee who subsequently starts a notice period since this date then an adjustment will need to be made to pay back any grant covering days the employee was on notice.
This change does not prevent employers from making employees redundant, and the CJRS grant can still be claimed during the redundancy consultation process but can’t be claimed once that redundancy is confirmed and notice is served.