Payroll Management and COVID-19

The UK government's furlough scheme, which officially opened on 20th April, has been flooded with tens of thousands of requests for state aid, intended to be used to temporarily pay wages during the coronavirus pandemic. Jim Harra, the HMRC Chief Executive, told the BBC that 67,000 claims were made by employers within 30 minutes of the scheme being made available.

Up to 450,000 applications to the coronavirus job retention scheme can be processed each hour. The Treasury said that employers should receive payments within six working days of their application being made.

As businesses struggle for survival during the coronavirus crisis, more than nine million people (equivalent to around one in four UK workers) are expected to be furloughed. The cost of furloughing these workers is expected to reach at least £42bn, according to an estimate from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Since the government's furloughing scheme was announced, around 66% of British businesses have applied. The results of a survey carried out by the British Chamber of Commerce showed that one in three companies have put at least three-quarters of their workforce on furlough.

Managing payroll is a complex and time-consuming task at the best of times but the coronavirus pandemic has added many new levels of complexity. Bachmann Group, a payroll management specialist, can help YOUR business to get to grips with payroll during the crisis and beyond.

Find out more about our payroll management service on the Bachmann Group website and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.