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FFS – more changes announced

The full details of the new Flexible Furlough Scheme (FFS) have been announced.  Here is a run down of the key changes.

From 1 July 2020 you will be able to:

  • only claim for employees who have previously been furloughed for at least 3 consecutive weeks taking place any time between 1 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 (ie no new furloughs).

 

  • be able to flexibly furlough employees.  This means you can bring your employees back to work for any amount of time, and any work pattern.  You will have to pay them fully for any hours worked. From 1 July 2020, under a flexible furlough agreement, there are no minimum periods and employees can enter into a flexible furlough agreement more than once.

 

  • still be able to claim the furlough grant for the hours your flexibly furloughed employees do not work, compared to the hours they would normally have worked in that period.

Please note that if you do offer flexible furloughing, you will need to get the employees agreement.  Employees can still remain on full furlough if you wish.  During any furlough period you cannot ask your employee to complete any work (except training).

We have asked our friends at Home of HR (https://www.homeofhr.co.uk/) who have kindly provided us with a template which can be adapted and used: LINK HERE

One more rule (which is around no more new furloughs), from 1 July 2020 the number of employees an employer can claim for cannot exceed the number in any previous claim.  For example, an employer that has claimed for 10 employees in April, 15 in May and 12 in June, will not be able to claim for more than 15 employees in any claim from 1 July 2020.  There are exemptions to this if you have an employee returning from maternity or other family leave.

Now is the time to think about your working arrangements and how you are going to bring back staff.