With the extension of the furlough scheme, comes the regular Friday evening guidance updates. The updated guidance can be found here.

Under the original furlough scheme, employees could be issued with notice of termination and the notice period could be spent on furlough leave. There was little benefit to the employer to pay In lieu of notice rather than serve notice and place (or keep) the employee on furlough leave. This has now changed.

For claim periods starting on or after 1 December 2020, an employer cannot claim for any days on or after 1 December 2020 during which the employee was serving a contractual or statutory notice period for the employer, including resignation.

For periods pre-1 December 2020, it provides that claims may be made if the employee is serving statutory notice only.

Employers with employees already on furlough during their notice periods need to consider whether they can still claim in November and then not make any further claims for these employees after 1 December 2020.

Need some advice on the furlough scheme, we’re here for you – get in touch.