UPDATE: The CJRS has been extended to September 2021 with both the Job Support Scheme and Job Retention Bonus being put on hold.  Accordingly some of the detail in this article is now out of date.  

A new Treasury Direction was published on 1 October modifying the effect of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ("CJRS") to deal with the Job Retention Bonus ("JRB") with new guidance - Check if you can claim the Job Retention Bonus from 15 February 2021 - being published on 2 October.  This is supported by practical examples contained in the guidance snappily entitled Example of employer deciding which employees will meet the minimum income threshold for the Job Retention Bonus.

Key information from these documents include:-

• There is a six week window during which a claim for a bonus can be made. This must be done between 15 February and 31 March.  However, while employers now know when to claim there is no further information at this time on how to claim.  More guidance is expected.

• As stated when the JRB was introduced, it is available to employers only in respect of employees who have been previously furloughed and who remain in employment and not under notice on 31 January 2021.

• The minimum income threshold is confirmed as £1,560 between 6 November 2020 and 5 February 2021.  This means claims cannot, for example, be made for employees who are on zero hours contracts who earn a negligible amount between those two dates.

Unlike the CJRS, the £1,000 bonus is payable to employers and not employees.  This blog will be updated when further guidance on how to make a claim is published.