22.05.2020
On 22 May 2020, the Government published an amended Treasury Direction under the Coronavirus Act 2020. This replaces the original Treasury Direction, which sets out the technical details of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the Scheme).
The amended Treasury Direction reflects the extension to the Scheme to 30 June 2020 (which was announced by the Chancellor on 17 April). It does not refer to the further extension of the Scheme that was announced by the Chancellor on 12 May.
There were some significant inconsistencies between the original Treasury Direction and the Government guidance on the Scheme. Although a number of the changes in the amended Treasury Direction are ‘tidying up’ of drafting, others seem to be intended to clarify and iron out some of the inconsistencies that existed between the original Treasury Direction and the Government guidance on the Scheme.
The amended Treasury Direction also provides more detail on the technicalities around the interaction between SSP and furlough and on the Scheme’s application in the context of TUPE transfers.
If you submit a claim under the Scheme on or after 23 May, you will need to ensure it is compliant with the amended Treasury Direction.
How we can help
We are currently digesting the changes and will update our furlough FAQs to reflect the amended Treasury Direction in due course.
As noted above, the amended Treasury Direction does not refer to the further extension of the Scheme to 31 October 2020 that was announced by the Chancellor on 12 May, or the changes to the operation of furlough that will apply from 1 August under that further extension. The Government has promised guidance on the further extension and the associated changes to the Scheme by the end of this month. We will update members when such guidance is published.