Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards are in place to ensure that payments made to employers under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for (a) salary and (b) pension contributions are administered to employees.

The employer must pay the employee all of the grant they receive for an employee’s gross pay in the form of money from the claim made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The employer cannot enter into any transaction with the employee which reduces the amount an employee receives. This includes any administration charge, fees or other costs in connection with the employment.

Where the employee has authorised the employer to make deductions from the salary, these deductions can continue while furloughed. The employee will still pay Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, Student Loan repayments and any other deductions (such as pension contributions) from their wages.

If an employee is concerned that an employer is abusing the scheme, they should report them to HMRC via their online fraud reporting tool on the GOV.UK site.

HMRC will check claims made through the scheme. Payments may be withheld or need to be repaid in full to HMRC if the claim is based on dishonest or inaccurate information or found to be fraudulent. HMRC will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse.