Bank holidays don’t break furlough

HMRC Customer Support has tweeted that it possible to take bank holidays as annual leave when on furlough provided they are paid at full pay.  Notably, the tweet did not answer the question about annual leave more generally.  (Caveat: this tweet as to what the furlough Scheme could turn out to be wholly unreliable, despite its source.)

An interesting point arises.  The reference to ‘full pay’ is loose.  Payment for a day of annual may well be calculated at a lesser rate than furlough payments.  Employers would be best to process pay at the higher of furlough rate or normal holiday pay calculation.

Of course, this is also a technical matter that many employers will not have addressed or allowed in their furlough letters.  Do get in touch if we can help.