Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme gets up and running

The UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has gone live this morning - with businesses able to claim up to £2,500 a month towards staff wages.

Employers can apply for direct cash grants through HMRC’s new online portal - with the money expected to land in their bank accounts within six working days.

The link to the online portal can be found here

The job retention scheme, announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of a package of support to protect jobs and businesses, allows employers to claim for a cash grant of up to 80% of a furloughed employees wages, capped at £2,500 a month.

Helplines staff up

HMRC said its easy-to-use portal has a step-by-step application process and up to 5,000 staff will be manning phone lines and webchat services to ensure any questions can be answered.

Mr Sunak said: “Our unprecedented job retention scheme will protect millions of jobs across the country and is now up and running.

“It’s vital that our economy gets up and running again as soon as it’s safe – and this scheme will allow that to happen.”

Last week the Chancellor announced the scheme will be extended for a further month until the end of June, to reflect continuing Covid-19 lockdown measures.

Our guide to CJRS

Click here to read our quick guide to the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme.

Our Employment Law team is standing by to answer questions from business owners looking to use the scheme to save jobs.

Click here to speak to us.