HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published the second release of the Official Statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which shows that as of the end of June, 9.4 million employees in the UK had been placed on furlough – an increase of 678,000 in comparison with the number of claims made at the end of May.
Additionally, the data shows that the 9.4 million employees on furlough have so far costed the Treasury £26.5 billion.
The data included in the release relates to claims made via the scheme to the end of last month, broken down by:
- Age and gender
- Employer size
- Sector of the economy
- Geography
- Sector of the economy by country and region
Second release of the statistics on the CJRS
The key elements of the release include:
- 4 million workers have been placed on furlough since its introduction.
- 14 million companies have made at least one claim through the scheme – a monthly increase of 75,000.
- Age and gender
- Workers who are 17 years old were more likely to be placed on furlough:
- 61% of job roles with a female worker aged 17 were furloughed; and
- 58% for male workers of the same age.
- For men, those aged between 41 to 49 years old were least likely to be placed on furlough (28%).
- For women, those aged 41 to 57 were the least likely to be furloughed (23%).
- Workers who are 17 years old were more likely to be placed on furlough:
- Business size
- Those who worked for small companies were more likely to have been placed on furlough than those working for larger organisations:
- Businesses with five to nine employees – 57% of workers were placed on furlough.
- Companies with 250 or more employees – 19% of employees were furloughed.
- Sector
- The hospitality industry had the highest proportion of businesses placing some of their employees on furlough (87%). Additionally, the sector also had the highest amount of total employees furloughed (73%).
- Those who worked for small companies were more likely to have been placed on furlough than those working for larger organisations:
Changes to the CJRS from 1st August
As from the beginning of next month, the CJRS will be changing and employers will have to start making contributions to the costs, as follows:
- From 1st August 2020, the Government will continue paying 80% of salary up to a monthly cap of £2,500, but employers will have to pay employer’s National Insurance contributions and pension contributions and will no longer be able to reclaim those amounts via the CJRS;
- From 1st September 2020, the Government will pay 70% of salary up to a monthly cap of £2,187.50, with employers being required to top up salary to 80% up to a cap of £2,500 and pay employer’s national insurance contributions and pension contributions;
- From 1st October 2020, the Government will pay 60% of salary up to a monthly cap of £1,875, with employers being required to top up salary to 80% up to a cap of £2,500 and pay employer’s national insurance contributions and pension contributions.
The CJRS will then close at the end of October.
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For further information or to comment on this article, please contact a member of our Employment Team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 0241 976 or via our online form.