Thousands more employees will now be able to receive support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) after the eligibility date has been extended to 19 March 2020.
Under the CJRS, employers can claim a grant covering 80% of the wages for a furloughed employee, subject to a cap of £2,500 a month. To be able to claim, individuals originally had to be employed on 28 February 2020. However, following a Government review of the delivery system, it has been confirmed that the eligibility date has been extended to 19 March 2020.
This change is designed to make the scheme more generous while keeping the substantial fraud risks under control and is expected to benefit over 200,000 employees.
If any employer now thinks they are eligible for support, they can find out more here.
The full press release can be found here.