The Job Retention Bonus – Postponed

1 year, 7 months ago by Oliver Atkinson

On October 2nd 2020, HMRC published information regarding the Job Retention Bonus (JRB). This bonus was to be used to support those who had kept on furloughed staff up until January 31st 2021. Due to the fact that the JRB was extended until March 31st 2021, this bonus has now been postponed. HMRC have not yet released a new date for the JRB.

What is the Job Retention Bonus?

The Job Retention Bonus is a £1,000 one-off payment made to employers who had furloughed employees and made an eligible furlough claim with regards to that employee. The employee must have remained employed until 31st January 2021. Employers can claim the bonus for each furloughed employee.

Employees Eligible for the Claim

Employers can claim the Job Retention Bonus for employees that:

• They made an eligible claim for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
• They kept employed from the last CJRS claim to the end of January. The employee must have been employed continuously
• Are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period on January 2021. This includes notice of retirement
• They paid at least the minimum income threshold to each employee. For employers to have met the minimum income threshold, employers must have paid their employees a total of at least £1,560 gross throughout the tax months:

• 6 November 2020 - 5 December 2020
• 6 December 2020 - 5 January 2021
• 6 January 2021 - 5 February 2021

Employees must have been paid at least once in each of the tax months above. Only taxable pay counts towards the minimum income threshold.

As mentioned above, this bonus has been postponed, with further updates from the government awaiting, therefore some of the dates may be subject to change. Any updates will be posted here on the Atkinsons Accountants website.

For further information on the Job Retention Bonus, please visit the HMRC guidance by clicking here.