The government has published further guidance on the Job Retention Bonus, originally announced in July 2020.
The scheme, which has been introduced to support employees throughout the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, gives organisations an incentive to bring back as many employees as possible from furlough.
The new guidance has released information on what employers that have furloughed staff need to know to claim the bonus from 15 February to 31 March 2021. The £1,000 Job Retention Bonus is equal to a 20% wage subsidy for the employment costs of the average person previously furloughed.
The bonus scheme will launch from October 2020 until the end of January 2021, requiring employers to keep the staff that are brought back from furlough on payroll until at least January 2021.
The Job Retention Bonus scheme is in addition to the Job Support Scheme set to launch on 1 November 2020. This was implemented to avoid organisations making redundancies.
Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “The Job Retention Bonus is an additional boost that employers can receive on top of the extensive support we’ve already put in place for businesses, including loans, grants and our new Job Support Scheme.
“I know how hard employers have worked to bring furloughed staff back, and this bonus, equal to a 20% wage subsidy, will help ensure they continue to retain them.”