The Government Job Retention Scheme currently covers the period from 1 March 2020 for up to 4 months. It is aimed at helping employers whose business operations have been severely disrupted by COVID-19 to retain their employees.
In the event that you are unable to operate or have no work for your employees to do because of the COVID-19 pandemic then providing both you and the employee agree you can place the employee on furlough (temporary leave). 

Employers can claim up to 80% of any furloughed employees wages plus any National Insurance and Pension contributions up to £2,500 per month. This financial scheme is aimed at helping businesses to retain the workforces, skills and competencies they will need to continue their business in due course. Employees who have been furloughed are not required to undertake work for their employer during any period of furloughed leave.

How to claim wages on governments retention scheme?

To make a claim, you will need:

• to be registered for PAYE online
• your UK bank account number and sort code (only provide bank account details where a BACS payment can be accepted)
• your employer PAYE scheme reference number
• the number of employees being furloughed
• each employees National Insurance number (if you have one or more without a NI number please contact HMRC)
• each employees payroll or employee number (optional)
• the start date and end date of the claim
• the full amount you’re claiming for including employer NI contributions and employer minimum pension contributions
• your phone number
• contact name

You also need to provide either your:

•  name (or the employers name if you’re an agent)
•  corporation Tax unique taxpayer reference
•  self-Assessment unique taxpayer reference
•  company registration number

If you’re putting 100 or more employees on furlough

If you’re claiming for 100 or more furloughed employees, you’ll need to upload a file containing the following

for each employee:

• full name
• national Insurance number
• payroll number (optional)
• furlough start date
• furlough end date (if known)
• full amount claimed

You’ll need ensure that you:
 

• provide only the employee information requested here - if you provide more or less information than  required, you may risk delaying your payment and/or be asked to provide the information again
• submit one line per employee for the whole period
• do not break up the calculation into multiple periods within the claim
• do not split data by contract type

Further guidance can be obtained by calling HMRC’s dedicated helpline: 0800 0159 559