Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether employees on Maternity Allowance can categorise that Allowance as earnings for the purpose of calculating furlough payments.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is designed to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to keep their employees and protect the UK economy.

Under the CJRS, an employer will be entitled to claim for a grant that covers 80% of their furloughed employee’s usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month. They can also claim for the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and pension contributions, up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution, on that subsidised furlough pay.

For employees on fixed pay, claims for full or part time employees furloughed on return from family-related statutory leave should be calculated against their salary, before tax, not the pay they received while on family-related statutory leave. The same principles apply where the employee is returning from a period of unpaid statutory family-related leave.

Claims for those on variable pay, returning from statutory leave should be calculated using the highest of either:

• 80% of the same month’s wages from the previous year (up to a maximum of £2,500 a month)
• 80% of the average monthly wages for the 2019 to 2020 tax year (up to a maximum of £2,500 a month)