Supply Teachers: Coronavirus

(asked on 1st May 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether supply teachers who teach under an umbrella company have not been furloughed by their company during the covid-19 outbreak due to that company's fear of incurring additional liabilities; and if he will provide guidance to umbrella companies on holiday pay entitlements for employees furloughed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.


Answered by
Jesse Norman Portrait
Jesse Norman
This question was answered on 11th May 2020

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) covers employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts. It covers agency workers (including those employed by umbrella companies), so long as the other conditions of the scheme are met.

It is for employers to decide to whom to offer a furlough. Equality and discrimination laws will apply to such decisions in the usual way.

For the purposes of making a claim under CJRS, it is not possible for the Government to set out how the scheme will apply to every possible set of contractual arrangements. However, employers should follow the published online guidance in order to calculate the correct reference pay.

Where an employee is on furlough and is also on annual leave in accordance with their contract and any relevant employment law, the employer can claim for that employee under CJRS.

No additional funds can be claimed under CJRS, beyond those specified in the online guidance. BEIS will be issuing further guidance on issues relating to furloughed employees and accrued leave.

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