Posted: 04 / 11 / 2020
The Job Retention Bonus is a £1,000 one-off taxable payment to employers, for each eligible employee that was furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021.
You can claim the bonus if you’re an employer who has furloughed employees and made an eligible claim for them through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Your employee must have been eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant for you to be eligible for the bonus.
In-line with the delay in the launch of the Job Support Scheme, the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) (which was originally due to be paid in February 2021) has now also been delayed with the CJRS now being extended to 31 March 2021.
We are expecting HMRC to release an online portal for employers to claim in early 2021.
Eligible employees
You can claim for employees that:
- You made an eligible claim for under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- You kept continuously employed from the end of the claim period of your last Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claim for them, until 31 January 2021
- Are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period for you on 31 January 2021 (this includes people serving notice of retirement)
- You paid enough an amount in each relevant tax month and enough to meet the Job Retention Bonus minimum income threshold.
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
You must pay your employee at least one payment of taxable earnings (of any amount) in each of the relevant tax months.
The minimum income threshold criteria apply regardless of how often you pay your employees and any circumstances that may have reduced your employee’s pay in the relevant tax periods, such as being on statutory leave or unpaid leave.