Government announces new details on Job Retention Bonus

The Government has published further details of the Job Retention Bonus to be paid out to employers next year.

The scheme, which is designed to support employees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, provides employers who have furloughed employees with an incentive to retain as many as possible.

Employers who keep staff on after furlough until at least January 2021 will be eligible for a £1,000 bonus.

The bonus is the same amount for each employee irrespective of their actual wages. To receive the bonus, the employer must have paid a salary of at least £1,560 to the employee between 6 November 2020 and 5 February 2021.

The bonus will not be paid for any employee who is under a notice period (including a notice of retirement) that started before 1 February 2021, even if they are still employed on 31 January.

Employers will have a six-week window to claim the bonus which will open via an online claim portal from 15 February 2021 and close on 31 March 2021. Time will tell whether this in conjunction with the Job Support Scheme will be sufficient for employers to reconsider redundancies.

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