What is New With Furlough?

As of August 1st 2020, employers can continue to have employees on furlough, but they will now be responsible  for their National Insurance and Pension contribution costs. The level of grant will also gradually be reduced each month. To be eligible for the grant employers must pay furloughed employees 80% of their wages, up to a cap of £2,500 per month for the time they are being furloughed. As an employer, you can choose to top up employee wages above the 80% total and £2,500 cap for the hours not worked at your own expense if you wish. It is now for the employers to go back to paying the employees national insurance contributions and pension contributions.

Wage caps are proportional to the hours an employee is furloughed. For example, an employee is entitled to 60% of the £2,500 cap if they are placed on furlough for 60% of their usual hours.

For September, the government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and top up employees’ wages to ensure they receive 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, for time they are furloughed.

For October, the government will pay 60% of wages up to a cap of £1,875 for the hours the employee is on furlough. Employers will pay ER NICs and pension contributions and top up employees’ wages to ensure they receive 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, for time they are furloughed.

Unfortunately, concerns are growing about the government’s job retention scheme winding down and changes taking effect. Thousands of firms and employees are seeking redundancy advice as the Coronavirus crisis continues to bite into the UK economy. There has been a spate of redundancies as some firms struggle to stay afloat, with nearly 4,500 jobs have been cut across the UK only a few days into August.

With the changes to furlough, it is guaranteed that there will be a lot of changes to staff and their contracts. For many people, HR is associated mainly with recruitment, but the range of tasks to be performed can be extensive. In addition to recruitment, a HR team also deals with employee contracts, payroll issues, holiday schedules, administrative matters, trying to ensure that employees have positive relations with each other and much more.

For those businesses that may want additional HR support or lack a full-time department, HR outsourcing could be the perfect solution. Choosing Nordens allows you to significantly reduce costs related to the implementation of Human Resources tasks. We have the ability to offer our HR services either as a project basis or as a retainer basis, with a pre-specified scope and fixed-fee costing. After an initial consultation, we’ll deliver a proposal that will clarify and outline the pricing structure and deliverables. With redundancies, new employees and new methods of working being implemented every day, make sure you get things right the first time around. Let us help.

Contact us for a free consultation with our HR department on 02085300720 or email enquiries@nordens.co.uk