Ending of Furlough, What’s Next?

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ended on the 30 September 2021. Employers must submit their September claims by 14 October 2021 and make any amendments by the 28 October 2021.

Further detail on the Job Retention Scheme can be found on the GOV.UK website.

During the Coronavirus Pandemic, many employers put some or all their employees on temporary Furlough. This also includes Flexible Furlough; where an employee worked some of their hours and was put on Furlough for the hours they did not work.

Note – Statutory Holiday Pay, Notice Pay, and Redundancy Pay should have been based on what the employee would normally earn, not the reduced Furlough rate.

Furlough has ended, What next?

Now the Furlough Agreement has ended, the employer and employee should go back to their earlier contractual arrangements, unless a change has been agreed.

Employers should have given their employees notice in writing that their Furlough Agreement is due to end.

If employers are planning on having their employees return to the workplace, it is important that employers consider the following aspects to support their employees on their return to work.

• Flexible Working Arrangement and dealing with Flexible Working Request
• Making reasonable adjustments
• Keeping the workplace safe
• How the workplace might reopen

Further information regarding returning your employees to the workplace, please visit ACAS  Also, further information can be found on or Latest News

For some, this will be the first time they have stepped foot back in an office environment or even back working, since the Coronavirus pandemic started. Therefore, it is important that if an employee has any concerns about returning to work, they should speak to their line manager or their employer. Similarly, employers need to consider, employee wellbeing and mental health, giving employees time to adjust to being back in work, perhaps employers should consider offering training or refresher courses for their employees, to make that transition easier.

Do I need to keep the Furlough Agreements?

Employers must:

• Keep the Furlough Agreement for 5 years
• Keep a written record of how many hours the employee works and how many hours they were on furlough (not working)

This information might be needed in the future to calculate holiday pay, notice pay, or redundancy pay.

Changes that businesses may need to consider after Furlough

If employers are wanting to make any changes to employees Terms and Conditions of Employment, they should discuss any changes with the employees and their representatives for example a recognised trade union.

As a business owner you may be having to make that difficult decision on Redundancy or and Restructuring. This is never an easy process, but it is important that you follow the correct process and to comply with ACAS Code of Practice.

How HR and You can support you and your business following the end of Furlough…

We appreciate this can be a very stressful and difficult time for many businesses as have the past 18 months following the Coronavirus Pandemic. Many organisations have relied on Furlough and for many businesses it has been a huge lifeline. Therefore, now the Furlough Scheme has ended, we understand as a business you may have some difficult decisions to make, these could be the Restructuring of your Organisation, Redundancy, Managing Flexible Working, How to Support your Employees with Return to Work, Dealing with a Rise in Absence…. the list goes on.

Here at HR and You, we can support you through all of these and more. We pride ourselves on the personal approach and can support you through the process as much or as little as you need.  We ensure you remain legally compliant and that issues or concerns that may arise within your business, are being dealt with correctly.

We offer FREE HR Consultations and FREE Health Checks, so we can find out more about your business and understand your requirements. Similarly, you can find out more about HR and You, and how we can support you.

Give us a call today on 0333 006 9489  or email us at [email protected]

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Author: Sophie Baker