Guidance

[Withdrawn] Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: people receiving direct payments

Updated 10 June 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 6 April 2022

This page has been withdrawn because it’s no longer current.

Using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

All UK employers with a PAYE scheme on or before the 19 March 2020 can use the CJRS to ‘furlough’ employees.

All direct payment holders in the care sector with a PAYE scheme on or before this date can make use of the CJRS where appropriate, although in general it is expected use of the CJRS to ‘furlough’ employees will only happen in exceptional circumstances.

Wherever possible, care should continue to be delivered and paid for in accordance with usual arrangements.

If appropriate, employers should follow the step-by-step guide to apply for the CJRS.

The minimum period workers can be ‘furloughed’ through the CJRS is 3 consecutive weeks.

If you’re unsure if you should use the CJRS

Get more information and help with the CJRS

Care services, including the role of PAs and carers, remain a vital part of the response to COVID-19. We therefore expect employers, including direct payment holders, to keep the vast majority of their staff working to maintain these services. This is why published guidance on the CJRS states that employers in receipt of public funding are “expected to continue employing staff”.

However, it’s important to note that this ‘expectation’ does not prevent employers in the sector, including direct payment holders, furloughing staff altogether. Instead, it sets a principle that in general, furloughing is only expected to be used in exceptional circumstances. It’s vital that where PAs and carers are available to work, they continue to do so to help support the COVID-19 response. As a result, the guidance makes this point to keep key public sector workers on the frontline where they’re needed and applies to PAs and carers in the same way it applies to NHS workers, police and local government employees etc.

But HM Treasury and DHSC recognise there are circumstances where it would be appropriate for a direct payment holder to furlough somebody they employ.

The following list gives examples of where furloughing would be appropriate, but it does not cover all situations.

When a PA or carer needs to shield

We know that some PAs and care workers will have been contacted by the NHS to say that they should be ‘shielding’ for a period of 12 weeks. These individuals are not able to continue working in the usual way.

It would be appropriate for direct payment holders to use the CJRS here, particularly they need to seek temporary paid care from elsewhere and it is not possible to seek temporary support at no additional cost.

When a PA lives with somebody who needs to shield

There may also be PAs and care workers who have not received a letter directing them to shield, but are living with somebody who has, and is categorised as ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’. In these circumstances, direct payment holders should take a pragmatic approach in discussion with employees.

Guidance on shielding means that household members of a person needing to shield do not have to shield themselves, so furloughing would not necessarily be needed for a household member in this case. However, employers should recognise the different circumstances of employees, and in some circumstances, use of the CJRS may be appropriate here. An example scenario of an appropriate use of the CJRS is set out below:

Example 1: a PA must shield and therefore cannot work

June employs 3 PAs through her direct payment: Mary, Dolores and Samira.

Dolores and Samira have agreed to carry on working through the coronavirus pandemic and June has provided them with the PPE required to work safely.

Mary is unable to continue working for June because her son John has been advised to shield for 12 weeks. John has Crohn’s disease and is currently receiving a treatment of chemotherapy. Mary is the main carer for John and therefore has no choice but to shield alongside her son.

Samira and Dolores have agreed to work additional hours to cover the period Mary cannot work, ensuring that June receives the care and support she needs.

June has heard about the government’s (furlough) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and wants to know if she can access it to cover some of Mary’s wages while she is shielding.

Having read the guidance and spoken to an adviser, June has been advised to furlough Mary while she’s shielding and has successfully applied to the CJRS to cover 80% of her wages.

Once it’s viable for Mary to return to her work, June has agreed that Dolores and Samira’s hours will be returned to normal, enabling Mary to take up her previous employment.

When a PA or carer has caring responsibilities

There may also be PAs and care workers who have not received a letter directing them to shield, and whose roles are still needed during the COVID-19 response, but who need to stop working because they have caring responsibilities for somebody who is dependent on them. It would be appropriate for the direct payment holder to use the CJRS here.

Example 2: a PA has caring responsibilities meaning they are not available to work

Syed is a personal assistant (PA) for Louise and also has caring responsibilities for his son, Abdul, who has severe learning disabilities. Syed receives no financial payment for caring for his son and is his unpaid carer.

Usually, Abdul attends and receives support from day centres. Given these day centres have temporarily stopped running, meaning Abdul can’t attend, Syed is now providing more care to Abdul than he previously did.

Syed is therefore temporarily unable to continue to deliver care and support for Louise. Louise and Syed discuss this and decide that the best course of action is for Louise to apply to the CJRS on behalf of Syed. The application is successful, meaning Syed will continue to receive a wage, while also enabling him to fulfill his unpaid caring responsibilities at home.

To ensure Louise continues to receive the support she requires in Syed’s absence, she contacts Barry, a PA who used to work for her. Barry, who is familiar with Louise’s needs, agrees to provide temporary cover for Syed until he’s able to return to work.

We expect that scenarios like the above are not frequent occurances, and for the most part it is vital that where possible, direct payment holders are keeping those they employ available to provide care and support, if it’s safe to do so.

It’s also important that direct payment holders do not furlough staff who are self-isolating, either because they have symptoms of COVID-19 (for 7 days) or are living with someone with symptoms (for 14 days). This is because absence in these cases will normally be significantly less than the period for which a worker would be furloughed (minimum of 3 consecutive weeks).

We would expect those self-isolating to be classified by employers as on sick leave. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) has now been extended to those self-isolating themselves, and those in the same household caring for those self-isolating.

Using the CJRS if the direct payment holder does not want their PA entering their home at this time

As above, where possible and safe, individuals should continue with their normal care arrangements, putting in place additional precautions in relation to hygiene and infection control.

However, we recognise that some direct payment holders, particularly those who are being shielded, will not want their PA or paid care worker to continue to provide care and support during this time.

Eligibility for using the CJRS will depend on the particular circumstances. If individuals are unsure about whether they can use the CJRS or not, they should get more information and help with the CJRS.

The following examples are meant to illustrate where it may be appropriate or inappropriate to use the CJRS, but they do not cover all situations:

Example 3: a direct payment recipient is shielding and prefers not to be visited by their PA but to receive temporary unpaid support from family

John has a direct payment and uses that to employ Emily as a part-time PA. Recently, John has received a shielding letter.

Previously, Emily supported John to access community classes, exercise and visit the supermarket. Given John has now been advised to shield, some of this is now not possible. Furthermore, given John is susceptible to infection, he would prefer that Emily doesn’t enter the home, to minimise the risk to him. John also believes some of the tasks that Emily did support him with in his house could be done temporarily by family members who live with him.

John therefore decides that using the CJRS would not be appropriate in this instance. He therefore continues to pay Emily her full wage, despite Emily not providing the usual care and support during this period. John’s family members voluntarily provide the care and support that Emily usually would, without pay.

Emily has also heard of another direct payment holder, Lamar, who would like some temporary additional PA support and has the funds in his budget to do this. Emily therefore provides Lamar with this care and support on a temporary basis, until John would like her to return to employment.

Example 4: a direct payment recipient is shielding and prefers not to be visited by their PA and to receive temporary paid support from family

Brett has a direct payment and uses that to employ Nazeen as a part-time PA. Recently, Brett has also received a shielding letter from the NHS and has been categorised as ‘high risk’.

Nazeen is usually employed to provide Brett with personal care in his house. Given Brett’s categorisation, he would prefer Nazeen not to provide him with personal care for the time being. Instead he would prefer his brother, Oliver, to provide that for him to reduce any risk of transmission.

Oliver is happy to do this for Brett ‒ he already provides Brett with a lot of unpaid care and support. However, for the extra work, Oliver would like to be paid a contribution to do it.

Brett agrees to this, on the basis that he is comfortable with Oliver, and knows that he mostly stays in the house, which reduces the risk of transmitting COVID-19.

Brett’s LA have given him the flexibility to use his budget in a way that meets his needs and keeps him safe. However, the budget does not allow for full pay to Nazeen and Oliver.

Brett therefore discusses this with Nazeen, and they agree to put her forward for the CJRS. This suits Nazeen, who has caring responsibilities that she will need to spend more time doing, when her husband is taken off the CJRS by his employer.

The application for the CJRS is successful, and Nazeen therefore receives 80% of her normal wage. Brett also agrees to pay Oliver a fixed wage per hour, with this drafted into Brett’s contingency plan. Nazeen, Oliver and Brett have all agreed that this is just a temporary arrangement until the risk to Brett is reduced, and he’s happy for Nazeen to return to work on a permanent basis and when Nazeen feels able to return to work permanently.