Calculating an employee's 'usual hours'

Please Note: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ended on 30 September 2021. Claims for September must be submitted on or before 14 October 2021. Any amendments must be made on or before 28 October 2021.

Since 1st July 2020, if an employee is flexibly furloughed, you are required to work out the employee’s usual hours, actual hours worked and their furloughed hours for each claim period. 

In determining an employee's 'usual hours' for the purpose of your CJRS claim, HMRC has provided comprehensive guidance to follow which can be accessed here.

There are two different calculations to consider when calculating your employee’s usual hours, depending on whether they work fixed or variable hours.

You should follow HMRC's guidance for calculating usual hours for employees who work variable hours, if either:

• your employee is not contracted to work a fixed number of hours
  
  
• your employee’s pay depends on the number of hours they work

If none of these apply, you should follow HMRC's guidance for calculating usual hours for employees who are contracted for a fixed number of hours.

Other Points to Note:

• The employee’s working pattern does not have to match their pay period (for example, an employee could be contracted to 40 hours a week, but be paid monthly).
  
  
• If your employee is fully furloughed, you do not need to work out their usual hours. An employee is fully furloughed if they do not do any work for you during the claim period.