March 2021

O h, how we all groaned when, while studying business, the tutor announced that the topic of the day was going to be ‘Furlough’. After all, we knew it inside out and this was going to be a complete waste of time. Seriously though, did we even know such a word existed five minutes ago? Let alone how to pronounce it? As for studying business, I will come back to that another day. Today’s thought is for ‘fir-loh’ and looking carefully at our wonderful new best friend. I think it is fair to say that Furlough has kept many businesses afloat across the UK in recent months. It is a treasured word for many of us now and a best friend to countless millions of business owners and employees alike. Furlough has and continues to prop us up in our hour of need. Crucially, it has lifted the biggest and most emotional worry from our shoulders; Our employees’ wages. Just the facts So, what are the facts about Furlough? Well. strictly speaking, Furlough is known as the Government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. One recent change is that the GOV.UK website no longer allows you to claim national insurance contributions or pension. This information is repeated on almost every page of your claim. You would be an absolute fool to miss this, so there is no need for me to labour on it. However, other information is less clear. Fact One What I do want to point at, and with a great big stick, is the barely mentioned small print ‘HMRC will check your claim’. This is clear. It also uses the word ‘WILL’. Not ‘possibly’ or ‘maybe’. The website provides no clear timescale either. Although elsewhere it does mention that records must be kept for six years. I think it a little poor that this is not repeated on every claim page. However, the government do have a bigger picture to contend with. After all, riots and mutiny really don’t feel like a sci-fi film anymore. They are more of a ‘fingers crossed and hang on tight white knuckle roller coaster’ type deal. In short, your paperwork WILL be scrutinised at some stage. 14 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2021 BUSINESS/THE GARAGE INSPECTOR GRADUATES www.aftermarketonline.net FURLOUGH CAN YOU GO? Rebecca considers how the Furlough is continuing to help businesses, while also looking at all the ways it could come back to bite you BY Rebecca Pullan, Carmaster Garage