That’s a really good question, with quite a long answer. Our Guide to Coronavirus Help is a good place to start.

You can. You can claim 80% of your salary (not dividends). You’re not allowed to work as an employee of your company while furloughed, but you can execute your duties as a director.

The scheme is intended to pay 80% of an employee’s salary. Dividends are not employment income and are specifically excluded from the scheme.

The scheme is intended to pay 80% of an employee’s salary. Dividends are not employment income and are specifically excluded from the scheme.

In order to claim a grant under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), you need to have set up a PAYE scheme, and reported payments to HMRC through RTI on or before 19 March 2020. If you haven’t taken a salary you won’t have done this, and you won’t be able to claim.

Yes you can come off furlough and go back on as you wish, just be aware that the CJRS works in periods of 3 weeks – so you can only claim the grant if you’re furloughed for at least 3 weeks at a time. If your contract interrupts a 3-week period, you won’t be able to claim for that period. You can return to furlough once your contract has finished.

In theory, yes, as long as you’re not working for your company you’re OK. In practice, HMRC will be actively auditing claims and there would need to be a sensible reason why you didn’t come off furlough and put this work through your company.

You can. The same rules apply – you can claim 80% of their salary, they must be furloughed for at least 3 weeks, and they mustn’t work for your company while they’re furloughed. Employment law continues to apply as normal, and your employees retain all their employment rights.

You can furlough some employees and not others. How you choose is up to you and will depend on a lot of different factors, including whether they all do the same role, and what kind of work your company is doing during lockdown. You might consider, asking for volunteers, or rotating the furlough every three weeks so the effects are shared. Keep in mind that your employees will need to agree in writing, so communicating with them is key.

Your claim should be submitted through the purpose-built HMRC portal. Orange Genie Accountancy can help with the calculations and apply on your behalf as your agent. Please contact your accountant if you need to arrange this.

If you are on contract with the Public Sector, inside IR35, you should check with your end client and or agency whether you will continue to receive 80% of your pay rate. The Government issued guidance and Policy Note 01/20 and 02/20 stating they expect all Public Sector bodies to continue to pay contingent workers. In this case the Job Retention scheme would not be appropriate.