Furlough and Notice Periods

Guidance on the furlough scheme has been updated to confirm that from December, employers will not be able to claim furlough grants for any employees serving their notice period.

Throughout November, employers can still claim furlough grants for notice periods, however, the latest amendment confirms that effective from 1st December furlough grants will not cover any form of notice period. 

Details about notice periods during furlough can be found within the government’s guidance which states:

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

This applies regardless of whether notice was served by the employer, or employee, and covers notice of redundancies as well as resignations and retirement. 

A grant can be claimed during redundancy consultation, however, once that redundancy is confirmed and notice is served then no grant can be claimed.

For any employees currently serving notice periods which will run into December, employers can make a claim for those employees for November, but not beyond that. From December, if an employer makes a claim for an employee who then enters a notice period, an adjustment will need to be made to pay back any grant covering days the employee is now on notice.