THE AMOUNT YOU SHOULD USE WHEN CALCULATING 80% OF YOUR EMPLOYEES’ WAGES IS REGULAR PAYMENTS YOU ARE OBLIGED TO MAKE, INCLUDING:
regular wages you pay to employees
non-discretionary overtime
non-discretionary fees
non-discretionary commission payments
piece rate payments
You cannot include the following when calculating wages:
payments made at the discretion of the employer or a client – where the employer or client was under no contractual obligation to pay, including:
tips
discretionary bonuses
discretionary commission payments
non-cash payments
non-monetary benefits like benefits in kind (such as a company car) and salary sacrifice schemes (including pension contributions) that reduce an employees’ taxable pay
The entirety of the grant received to cover an employee’s subsidised furlough pay must be paid to them in the form of money. No part of the grant should be netted off to pay for the provision of benefits or a salary sacrifice scheme.
Where the employer provides benefits to furloughed employees, including through a salary sacrifice scheme, these benefits should be in addition to the wages that must be paid under the terms of the Job Retention Scheme.
Normally, an employee cannot switch freely out of a salary sacrifice scheme unless there is a life event. HMRC agrees that COVID-19 counts as a life event that could warrant changes to salary sacrifice arrangements, if the relevant employment contract is updated accordingly.
Apprenticeship Levy and Student Loans
Both the Apprenticeship Levy and Student Loans should continue to be paid as usual. Grants from the Job Retention Scheme do not cover these.
If you’re claiming for a member of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
If a member of an LLP is treated as an employee (because of salaried members rules), you must only include payments that are either:
fixed
variable, but are varied without reference to the overall amount of the profits or losses of the LLP
not affected by the overall amount of the LLP’s profits or losses
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