Are you aware of the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) which allows employers like you to earn £1,000 per employee?

Did you also know that thousands of companies are simply missing out because

1) they don’t know it exists and
2) those who are aware miss out on a technicality.

Rest assured we have all the answers.

What is Job Retention Bonus?

The Job Retention Bonus is a one-off, taxable £1,000 payment to you (the employer), for each eligible employee that you furloughed and kept continuously employed until January 31st 2021.

Can you claim?

As an employer, you can claim the bonus if you have furloughed employees and made an eligible claim for them through the Job retention scheme.

A claim can still be made for certain employees if the claim was made through the Job support scheme but the HMRC are still to publish more information on this topic.

You cannot claim for the bonus for any employees who have not been paid using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme due to the grants you claimed for them already being repaid. This applies regardless of the reason why you repaid the grant amounts.

Which employee can you claim for?

Employees you can claim for must have had an eligible claim submitted under the Job retention scheme and/or must’ve been kept continuously employed from the end of the claim period of your last job retention scheme claim for them, until January 31st 2021. Also, If an employee is not serving a contractual or statutory notice period for you on 31st January 2021, including retirement, they are eligible. Along with, if you (the employer) paid enough I each relevant tax month, enough to meet the job retention bonus minimum income threshold (£1,560).

If HMRC are still checking your Job retention scheme claims, you can still claim the bonus but the payment may be delayed.

The bonus will not be paid if you made an incorrect job retention scheme claim and/or the employee wasn’t eligible.

Are TUPE employees eligible?

You may be eligible to claim the bonus if:
– TUPE rules applied
– The PAYE business succession rules applied
– The employees were associated with the transfer of a business from the liquidator of a company in compulsory liquidation where TUPE would have applied if the company was not in compulsory liquidation. To claim for these employees, you must have furloughed and successfully claimed for them under the job retention scheme as their employer. If you didn’t claim for these employees before 31st October 2020, they will not be eligible.

Can you claim for individuals who aren’t employees?

It is possible to claim for persons who are not employees if they are office holders or agency workers. As stated before, you must have claimed a grant for them under the job retention scheme and all the bonus edibility criteria must be met.

Do you meet the minimum income threshold?

To claim for the bonus, you must pay the employee a minimum of £1,560 throughout the tax months. This is regardless of how often an employee is paid and if any circumstances have reduced the pay (statuary leave or unpaid leave).
HMRC will check this through the information submitted in the real time information (RTI).

To meet the minimum income threshold you must pay your employee a total of at least £1,560 (gross) throughout the tax months:

6 November to 5 December 2020
6 December 2020 to 5 January 2021
6 January to 5 February 2021

Get ready to claim

Before you can claim, all payments to the employee must have been reported between November 6th 2020 and 5th February 2021 to HMRC via RTI.

Claims will open on 15th February 2021.

If you need more information, please contact us.