We know there are a number of other issues that arise from this guidance, and that things are likely to continue to change in the UK – be assured that we’re working on this and we’ll stay in touch with you. In all of this, we have three key aims:
Keeping people well
keeping people praying
Keeping people connected
Please make sure that you keep an eye on the Church of England website for all the latest guidance for churches and parishes relating to Coronavirus - and if you have specific queries you need help with, or you're in need of support, please speak with your Archdeacon in the first instance.
Some of the guidance below has been given by our Diocesan Registrar in response to questions that have arisen - that advice is clearly signposted. With respect to this advice, please note the following from our Registrar:
The principal source of up-to-date information about how the Church of England is dealing with a range of issues is the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section of the Church of England website, which should be checked regularly.
The purpose of this note is to offer guidance to colleagues on a range of matters which have been raised with Ann Beswick, my Registry Clerk, or with me, or with colleagues providing legal advice to other Dioceses. It is not intended to provide detailed legal advice, which normally depends on the particular facts of individual cases. Nevertheless, I hope that it is helpful.
During these difficult times, both Ann and I are working remotely and can be contacted in the usual way (ocj@wslaw.co.uk or 020 7593 5034 for me and for Ann abeswick@wslaw.co.uk or 020 7593 5148). This may mean we cannot easily access some of our paper records but we will do our best to provide normal service!
Owen Carew-Jones
Registrar and Bishop’s Legal Secretary
Click the heading or questions below to jump straight to what you need:
On Tuesday 23 June, the Prime Minister announced that, from 4 July 2020, church buildings may reopen for public worship. From 15 June 2020, church buildings have also been permitted to open for private prayer.
Many of our churches have told us that they do not yet feel ready to reopen their buildings are concerned that they may be forced to do so in light of the legal guidance published by the Church of England. Please be assured that this is not the case and do read the text below carefully for clarification on this:
It is important to note that the Government's lifting of restrictions on places of worship does mean that we now need to be mindful of the requirements of Canon Law in relation to our church buildings. The guidance published on Tuesday states that:
'There is no hard and fast rule as to whether a dispensation is needed on “an occasional basis” under paragraph 1(a) of Canon B 14A or on “a regular basis” under paragraph 1(b). Ministers and PCCs will need to exercise a degree of judgement. In cases of serious doubt, the archdeacon should be consulted.'
Under such circumstances, no special permission is required from Bishop Rose for your building to remain closed. It is the view, both of Bishop Rose and of our Registrar, that “occasional” and the local process for that designation could apply in cases where local teams feel that it is not possible for their buildings to reopen during July and August 2020.
It is entirely appropriate for your PCC to reach that judgement based not only on questions around building safety, but also around the inclusion of those who might not otherwise be able to attend worship in our churches. Please record this agreement as soon as reasonably practicable in a formal PCC resolution, which you can do by email, sending a copy to your archdeacon. Please ensure that the lessons we have learned during this time, and the leading of the Holy Spirit in how we proceed are key to your discussions on this matter.
Where a longer-term dispensation is needed (i.e. into September and beyond), it will be necessary for the minister and PCC to apply to me for that. Please simply email the text of your PCC’s resolution to me and consent will be usually granted. Be assured that Bishop Rose would be minded to grant such a request, but must consider the reasons given for the request and the circumstances at the time. She is keen that any such request take accounts both of public health issues and of matters of spirituality and mission.
All the latest guidance and documents to help you in your local discernmen are available on the Church of England's website.
In seeking to provide for the continuing spiritual life of a parish, a wide range of approaches to offering prayer and worship are being used and considered. Parishes should not rely on the exceptional nature of the present situation to seek to justify falling foul of copyright laws. Some copyright owners may be less understanding than others.
The law of copyright is a complicated and specialist area. However, a useful basic summary of guidance is available on the coronavirus advice and resource page of the Church of England website. Further more detailed advice is available here.
Further guidance from the Church of England:
CCLI
CCLI introduced a streaming licence in mid-March 2020. It is available to any church which holds a CCLI Church Copyright Licence, which the majority of Church of England churches do. For many churches, this licence will cover them for their streaming activity:
For churches who are streaming their services via YouTube or Facebook, the CCLI Streaming Licence will cover them for live worship music performed as part of that stream. (This would include services streamed or webcast via YouTube but embedded into the church’s own website).
You can check on the CCLI website as to whether permissions for a particular hymn or song are covered by them.
If the church is hosting the stream/webcast on their own website, they will need the PRS for Music Limited Online Music Licence (LOML) in addition to the CCLI Streaming Licence.
The CCLI Streaming Licence includes the right to show the words on screen.
The CCLI Streaming Licence allows a church to make recordings of the services available on their website indefinitely provided you keep renewing your streaming licences.
These licences cover ‘live’ music performances. If a church is using recorded music as part of the stream, additional rights come into play. Commercially available CDs or music recordings cannot be played unless specific permission is granted by the copyright holder.
One Licence
Another license, One License is available which covers an additional range of church and choral music e.g. Taize, GIA Publications, Oxford University Press, Wild Goose Resource Group, Kevin Mayhew.
The Church of England uses both a One Licence and CCLI Streaming Licence for the weekly online services to enable access to a broad range of Christian music.
The same rules described above over seeking permission for ‘recorded’ performance still apply.
Rights-free music from the Church of England, St Martin in the Fields and the Royal School of Church Music
The Church of England, working with St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Royal School of Church Music, is providing a resource of rights-free music for Church of England churches to use on streamed services, via the A Church Near You resource hub providing you have a CCLI Streaming Licence. Read the press release for more details.
There are several other Christian organisations that provide apps or software that provide backing tracks for worship, some of which are giving churches permission to use their pre-recorded tracks as part of their streams. Please carefully check first before using this material.
Using other copyrighted material
Permission should also be sought from the owner(s) of any other creative works included in the service. If reproducing bible verses, or liturgy, usually there will be copyright information in the front of the publication, and usually they will allow for a certain proportion to be reproduced.
For any images etc. the same rules would apply as in normal circumstances. Never assume that you can take an image found on Google and use it in a church service or include it in a service sheet or similar without permission. Read our guidance on using images here.
Regarding a Service Sheet, as long as there are appropriate licences/permissions in place, making that service sheet available online should be fine.
Advice on using Zoom to stream services
Churches using Zoom to stream services need both the CCLI Streaming Licence and the PRS for Music LOML. This is because Zoom doesn’t currently have an agreement with PRS for Music as YouTube and Facebook do.
Before re-opening churches for clergy prayer/streaming in Church Buildings
Ensure that the church building interior is appropriately cleaned paying particular attention to any detritus (bat droppings etc) that may have gathered.
Air the building to minimise mould spores etc.
Run all the taps (to minimise the risk of legionella) and flush and clean toilets. Run the water from all taps and other hot and cold water-outlets for at least five minutes to ensure the water system has been thoroughly flush through. If you have any concerns seek appropriate professional help/advice
Consider checking general maintenance items such as Electrical Systems; Emergency Lighting and other lighting; Fire Alarm Systems; Heating Systems; Oil Supply; fridges; Security Monitoring and Access Systems; water systems and toilets
Each time the Church Building is used
If clergy or lay ministers are likely to use the building as part of a rota, make sure those bits of the church that are touched often (doorknobs, light switches etc) have been thoroughly cleaned between use
Do not share Bibles, prayer books etc. Each person should bring their own books, order of service and take them home with them
Make sure hand-sanitizer is available at the entrance door and that everyone cleans their hands upon arrival
If toilets or washing facilities are available, make sure that there are disposable paper towels, and that there is plenty of liquid soap
There is not a cap on the number of individuals who can attend to broadcast an of worship however, numbers should be kept to the absolute minimum required and social distancing should be maintained
Lock the church after use
The advice above also applies if others need to enter the church building, for example, workers to undertake necessary maintenance
On an ongoing basis
Run taps and flush toilets
Perform a general clean of the Church building interior paying particular attention to those bits of the church that are touched often (doorknobs, light switches etc). These areas should be cleaned on a regular and frequent basis
The National Team has also taken the decision that the completion of the Past Cases Review 2 by dioceses, cathedrals, TEIs, religious communities and all other church settings will now be expected during Spring/ Summer 2021.
We are pleased that we will be able to offer weddings to couples in our churches from 4 July, 2020, albeit in a different way to ‘normal’. You’ll be aware of the headlines (up to 30 attendees, physically distancing of at least 1m except for the couple, and no singing) but there are a couple of things that need to be checked which could easily be overlooked.Weddings may take place inside church buildings form 4 July, 2020. Please see this planning document from the Church of England:
In preparing to conduct weddings in church buildings, please also see the following advice form our Registrar:
Preliminaries:
Banns and common licences are valid for a period of 3 months from the third calling, which means that any completed banns or common licences issued before lockdown are no longer valid. Couples wishing to marry in the first few weeks of reopening will need to obtain a common licence. In parishes where Sunday services are resuming, banns can be called in the usual way at those services. It doesn’t matter if services are not every week as banns do not have to be called on consecutive Sundays – there simply has to be a calling of the banns on three Sundays prior to the marriage. However, care will need to be taken where banns for a couple need to be called in another parish (or even two other parishes in some cases). It may be that the other parish is not yet opening for Sunday worship in which case a common licence will be needed.
We understand that a common licence will inevitably mean a further cost for couples but as this is a statutory fee it cannot be waived. However, our Registrar has written, ‘As a gesture of goodwill to those couples who have been or will be unable to have banns called in time and who will therefore need to obtain a common licence, the Chancellor has agreed to reduce the statutory fee from £200 to £100 for those affected by the period of closure of churches for public worship. Of this £100 fee, £74 is payable to the Diocesan Registry and £26 is payable to the Surrogate. If fees have already been paid to the parish for calling banns, the parish may consider it appropriate to refund those fees. Where a couple would have required a common licence in any event (because banns could not be called due to the circumstances of the couple) or where banns will be able to be called once churches are open again for public worship, the normal statutory fee will apply.’
We are grateful to the Chancellor’s office for this help to couples. As not all churches will be open for the calling of banns, we hope the reduced fee will be in place for a few more weeks. The Registrar will let us know when the fee will revert to its normal level but this is likely to be from the end of August 2020. If a parish wishes to cover the fee for pastoral reasons, there is no reason for them not to if their circumstances allow. Similarly, a parish can call banns where previous ones have expired without further charge if they wish.
Officiating Minister:
It’s a good idea to check whether the minister will be available for a proposed wedding as they could be self-isolating. In these cases, the PCC will need to arrange for another minister to officiate.
We recognise how difficult this time is for anyone who has lost a loved one. You may wish to discuss with your vicar or minister the possibility of a memorial service at a date in the future where more people can be present.
One of the church’s most important areas of ministry is pastoral care. The usual ways of undertaking this have been very significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst innovative ways are being found to keep in touch and offer care, the usual route of face to face visiting has not been possible in most situations. This has been challenging and distressing for very many clergy and lay ministers as well as for those who receive such care.
During July and August, The Living Well is offering accompanied prayer time on Tuesdays and Fridays and self-guided individual retreats on Mondays and Thursdays. Booking is essential. To book and for more information, please cpontact the team (details below). The team is also available for listening, prayer and support by phone and email so don't hesitate to contact us them if you need some help:
The Bishop’s Senior Staff Team has decided that, wherever possible, we will continue with recruitment processes. We will be as creative as possible, for example, using video conferencing for panel meetings and for interviews. We may have to be flexible with dates and timeframes and any offers of post might have to be conditional until we can eventually have a face-to-face meeting. In some cases, we might have to pause recruitment because of local circumstances.
HGovernment guidance now allows for people to move house and moves and licensings will be rearranged as quickly as possible. There may be a few cases where someone has moved but their licensing service cannot now take place. The licensing itself can take place by video conferencing but the installation and welcome service will take place as soon as possible after the lifting of restrictions.
In the event that a need arises for support from clergy who are not licensed to the parish or do not have the Bishop’s permission to officiate, parishes should remember that only clergy who are currently beneficed, licensed or hold permission to officiate in a diocese of the Church of England may exercise ministry, even on an occasional or short term basis.
We don't imagine that it will be any surprise to you that due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have unfortunately had to postpone this summer's Ordination services. The ordination of both deacons and priests is now planned for 26 September. However, our ordination candidates will still begin their curacies this summer as planned, wherever that is possible.
We understand that this will be a source of disappointment to our ordinands, who are looking forward to their big day - but we will make sure it's a party worth waiting for!
‘Religious staff’ are indeed categorised as key workers. However, this is a catch-all phrase to be carried across all faiths. For the Church of England, it is primarily intended for those undertaking funeral ministry and critical pastoral care. If you wish to use key worker status, for example for continuing to send your child to school, you’ll need to apply through your archdeacon for the Bishop to certify that status.
We would encourage you to postpone all non-essential meetings and - where necessary - to seek to transact business by email or video conferencing (such as Skype).
Bishop Rose has signed a Statutory Instrument, which extends the time period for holding APCMs to 31 October 2020. It also extends the time for holding a meeting of parishioners to choose churchwardens in the year 2020 to not later than 31 October 2020 (see more guidance below)
Following changes that came into force on 1 January 2020, the Churchwardens Measure 2001 requires an annual meeting of parishioners to be held not later than 31st May each year.
In the present exceptional circumstances, the Bishop has exercised her powers under Section 10 of the Churchwardens Measure so that the date by which an annual meeting must take place is postponed to 31st October 2020.
In the present exceptional circumstances, and where no APCM has been held this year, the Bishop has exercised her powers under Rule 78 so that the date by which an annual parochial church meeting must take place is postponed to 31st October 2020. This means that the date by which all the business required to be dealt with at that meeting (including the election of parochial representatives of the laity to the PCC (“directly elected PCC members”) and to the deanery synod (“directly elected deanery synod members”)) is extended to that date.
No. There is no provision in the Churchwardens Measure for the annual meeting of parishioners to be held in this way. This is not simply about the lack of a legal basis for an alternative to an annual meeting, but also about the lack of any procedure or other arrangements to ensure that a proper process is followed.
The Bishop has also directed that a churchwarden chosen in 2019 (and duly admitted to office) will continue to hold office until 31st January 2021, unless his or her successor is admitted to office before that date. Where the successor is admitted to office sooner, the outgoing churchwarden will cease to hold office on the date of admission of the successor.
If a churchwarden is serving a sixth successive period of office, that sixth successive period is extended so that the disqualification under Section 3 of the Churchwardens Measure (disqualification after six periods of office) will arise only at the end of that extended period, i.e. on or before 31st January 2021.
The continuation in office of a churchwarden is subject to the statutory provisions as to the suspension, resignation and vacation of office of churchwardens, and so these provisions will continue to apply in full. A churchwarden who, for whatever reason, does not wish to continue in office, may still resign pursuant to Section 7 of the Churchwardens Measure. If a successor has already been elected by an annual meeting, that person may be admitted to office by the archdeacon (or alternative arrangements may be made if that is not possible; please contact the Registrar). Otherwise, a special meeting would have to be convened to elect or appoint a successor, which will not be possible in the current circumstances.
No. There is no provision in the Churchwardens Measure for the election of churchwardens to be conducted in this way. This is not simply about the lack of a legal basis for an alternative to an annual meeting, but also about the lack of any procedure or other arrangements to ensure that a proper process is followed.
The Bishop has also directed that a person who was a directly elected PCC member in March 2020, and whose term of office was due to expire at the conclusion of the APCM this year, will continue to hold office until the end of the deferred APCM (i.e. a date not later than 31st October 2020).
Where a parish has already held its APCM for 2020, the newly directly elected PCC members will have already taken up office.
The Bishop has directed that the term of office of directly elected deanery synod members holding office in March 2020 will continue to hold office until 30th November 2020. As such, they will also continue to be members of the PCC until that date.
All directly elected deanery synod members elected at their parish’s 2020 APCM (whether deferred or not) will now take up office on 1st December 2020.
The extension of the period of office of directly elected PCC members and deanery synod members is subject to the relevant statutory provisions as to their suspension, disqualification and vacation of office, and so those provisions will continue to apply in full. A PCC member or deanery synod member who, for whatever reason, does not wish to continue in office, may still resign and the usual rules for filling a vacancy apply.
Whilst the new Church Representation Rules (“the CRRs”) make provision for an APCM or special parochial church meeting to make a scheme to vary (within certain limitations) the application of the CRRs in the parish, no such schemes have yet been submitted to the Bishop’s Council. Accordingly, the Model Rules, set out in Part 9 of the CRRs, apply in all parishes of the Diocese.
There is no general provision permitting ‘virtual’ meetings. However, if all the other procedural requirements for a meeting are met, and the PCC wished to proceed in this way, it seems to me that a video-conference meeting could take place, as long as every member wishing to attend the meeting is able, and has the facility, to do so (which may or may not be the case). It would be a fundamental pre-requisite of any such meeting that all the members attending could both hear and see each other. A telephone or other audio link would not be sufficient. (This is going further than is envisaged in the CRRs but is based on the legal understanding of what constitutes a meeting. It is important to note that if a member wishes to attend, but does not have the facility to do so by videoconference, that member is entitled to attend the meeting in person, which is likely to be problematical for the foreseeable future, and it would be for that reason that a valid meeting could not be convened.)
Formal business, however, may also be conducted by correspondence, which now includes by email where a person has provided an email address. See CRRs Rule 76 and Model Rules M29. Rule M29 provides that “unless objection to the proposals is received from members in such numbers and within such period from the date of their being sent as the chair of the PCC may specify, the proposals are to be treated at the end of that period as approved by the PCC as if they had been approved at a duly convened meeting”. No contentious business should be dealt with in this way.
It should also be remembered that the Standing Committee of the PCC may transact the PCC’s business between meetings, subject to the statutory limitations and any directions of the PCC. See CRRs Model Rule M31. The comments above relating to video-conference meetings apply similarly to the Standing Committee.
These are, of course, the provisions for formal meetings and business. There is nothing to prevent email and telephone interaction between members of the PCC to give informal consideration to matters. It may be possible to deal with many straightforward and uncontroversial matters in this way. However, formal decisions would need to await a properly constituted meeting of the PCC or, as appropriate, the Standing Committee.
PCCs required to submit accounts and an annual return to the Charity Commission should note that the Commission’s current advice is that the charity should contact the Commission if it believes that it will need an extension to the (10 month) deadline for filing the annual return. Given the number of charities likely to be affected, it may be helpful for a member of the PCC to check the Charity Commission website from time to time, in order to check for any further guidance.
If employees have some work but not enough, they cannot be furloughed under the job retention scheme. Employees are not allowed to carry out work for the employer during the furlough period. The scheme is only aimed at supporting employers who otherwise could not maintain their workforce because the business has been affected by coronavirus.
If employers’ priority is to obtain the payments under the scheme, then reducing everyone’s hours equally will not work. However, employers can arrange staffing needs differently, for example:
by keeping some (perhaps essential) people working full-time on normal pay and others not working on furlough pay.
rotating the furlough by having some employees on furlough and others fully working. Then - after at least three weeks - those fully working can be on furlough and the others start working again.
Employers should consult staff to find a solution that works for everyone. If employers decide a reduction in hours or pay is the only solution, then employees will need to agree and this will fall outside the coronavirus job retention scheme payments.
If a furloughed employee works elsewhere there are two main possibilities.
Employees who continue an existing second part-time job: Employees with two or more jobs are eligible for the scheme. The government has confirmed that each job should be treated separately. So, if an employee has more than one employer, they can be furloughed from one job, or both jobs. The £2,500 cap will apply to each employment individually. If the employee only works elsewhere outside the hours of the job they have been furloughed from, then no problems would arise.
Employees who take on elsewhere during their normal contractual hours: The amended government guidance has now confirmed that employees can be furloughed in one job and receive their 80% furlough payment and can start working for another employer during the hours they would normally be working for the employer who has furloughed them. They will receive the furlough payments from the first employer and their normal wages from the new employer.
Whilst working elsewhere is permissible under the coronavirus job retention scheme; whether the employer agrees to this is a separate matter. The employer and employee’s agreement depend upon a number of issues, including the competitive nature of the business and the terms of the original contract.
Yes, if employees do not agree to be furloughed employers can dismiss by reason of redundancy if the redundancy definitions are met and a proper process followed.
Government guidance now states that employees must give written consent to cease all work. Ideally employees should also content to being furloughed and the pay reduction (unless there are lay off provisions in their contract).
Yes, employers can place employees who are shielding in line with public health guidance on furlough even if there is work for them to do. Employees who need to stay at home with someone else who is shielding are also covered. Shielding employees are those who are extremely vulnerable (for example, due to organ transplants, lung cancer, severe chest conditions or immunosuppressed conditions) and who have been notified by the NHS to isolate for 12 weeks. If shielding employees can work at home, then they can continue to do this unless they become unwell. However, if there is no work to do at home, the shielding employees can be furloughed.
The subsequent government advice supplementing the coronavirus job retention scheme has confirmed that the employers can claim the furlough grant for those shielding employees; they do not have to be placed on sick pay.
Employers who have just made a group of employees redundant can reinstate those employees and put them on furlough leave.
The government has confirmed the coronavirus retention scheme covers employees who have already been made redundant after 28 February 2020, if they are rehired by the same employer. It is not mandatory for employers to reinstate employees and then place them on furlough, but for redundancies that are still in the pipeline, there is a risk of unfair dismissal claims if the furlough option is not considered along with all the usual method of avoiding redundancies.
Employers who decide they have no alternative but to press ahead with redundancies now, despite the existence of the scheme, should fully consult and keep careful records to show why the redundancies will still be needed despite the scheme’s availability.
When the government ends the job retention scheme at the end of June (unless extended) employers can decide whether there is sufficient work for employees to return. If the work has ceased or diminished, or is expected to cease or diminish, then redundancies can be implemented at that stage following full redundancy procedures for notice, consultation and selection.
The position varies for employees who ceased employment before 19 March 2020, depending on the reason for their departure:
Employees who left the employer before 28 February are not eligible for the furlough scheme.
Employees who stopped working for the employer for a reason not due to coronavirus before or after 19 March 2020 (for example because they left voluntarily to start another job) are not eligible.
Employees who were made redundant, furloughed, laid off or who stopped working due to coronavirus between 28 February and 19 March 2020 should still be eligible for the scheme. These employees can still be put on furlough and claimed for. However, this may involve re-employing them if they had been fully dismissed by reason of redundancy before the 19 March.
No, if an employee starts a new job the employer cannot immediately then furlough that new employee and claim reimbursement of 80% of their pay under the coronavirus job retention scheme.
The scheme is only open to all UK employers that had created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 19 March 2020. The relevant employees must have been on the payroll on that date (because the government changed the original payroll date from the 28 February 2020 employees who were on the payroll then but were made redundant or stopped working for the employer between then and 19 March still qualify for the scheme. The employer may need to re-employ them to put them on furlough in some cases).
The situation covering new employees is relatively unusual but some employers may have a recruitment process already underway and have made job offers which have just been accepted. The following applies:
Employees hired after 19 March 2020 cannot be furloughed or claimed for under the scheme.(The employer must have made a real time information (RTI) submission to HMRC in respect of the employee on or before 19 March 2020.If new employees were not on this employer’s payroll on that date they do not qualify for the scheme with their new employer unless they transferred under either the TUPE or PAYE business succession rules.)
Employees on unpaid leave before 28 February cannot be furloughed, until the date on which it was agreed they would return from unpaid leave.
Employees placed on unpaid leave after 28 February 2020 can be furloughed.
Employees already made redundant or laid off between 28 February and 19 March (when the scheme was announced) are eligible under the scheme if reinstated.
Employees on schedule to be made redundant after 20 March 2020 can be furloughed instead of proceeding with the redundancy process.
Former employers can re-employ some previous employees so they can claim furlough pay for them but they are not required to do so. The basic rule is that to be eligible for a furlough pay claim employees must have been on the payroll and notified to HMRC on its Real Time Information system on or before 19 March 2020. Employees hired after 19 March 2020 cannot be claimed for, unless they were on the payroll on 28 February in which case special guidance applies.
Employees who were on the payroll on 28 February but not on 19 March
Because the government changed the 19 March payroll date from the earlier date of 28 February, employers with employees on the payroll and notified to HMRC on or before 28 February can claim furlough for those employees, even if they were made redundant between the two dates. The employer can rehire the employees and put them on the scheme, even if they were not rehired until after 19 March.
Employees staying at home to look after young children are thought to be included in the furlough system in preference to being made redundant.
Employees eligible for statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance can claim up to 39 weeks of statutory pay or allowance as normal. The same principles apply for normal paternity, adoption or shared parental pay rights.
If the employer offers enhanced contractual rights these are included as wage costs that can be claimed through the scheme. The same principles apply to other types of family leave.
Employers with staff on maternity leave can reclaim 92% of SMP back in the normal way. (This is 103% if small employers’ relief applies). Employers cannot claim the 8% balance of SMP through the furlough scheme because the guidance does not yet say this is an option.
Some employees may wish to curtail their maternity leave to switch to furlough if that pays more than maternity (or adoption or shared parental) pay. If the employer and employee agree to furlough this seems to be permissible. Ending maternity leave early normally requires eight weeks’ notice.
A wide range of individuals, including some who do not necessarily have employee status in employment law, can be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The defining criteria is that they must have been paid via the employer’s PAYE payroll and notified to HMRC on or before 19 March 2020.
Office Holders: Office holders, including company directors and LLP members, can be furloughed as agreed between the office holder and the business that operates PAYE for their payments.
Self-isolating employees: Those self-isolating on medical advice can get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). They cannot be furloughed while on SSP, but they can be furloughed once they are no longer receiving it.
Shielding employees: Employees who are shielding in line with public health guidance (or need to stay home with someone who is shielding) can be furloughed if they are unable to work from home. The government have confirmed that shielding employees can be placed on furlough even if the employer has work for them to do.
Short time or reduced hours working: Employees working reduced hours, receiving reduced pay, will not be eligible for the scheme as they are still working.
Sick leave: Employees on sick leave or self-isolating for medical reasons can get Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Employees on SSP cannot be furloughed until they are no longer receiving SSP.
Unpaid leave: Employees that started unpaid leave after 28 February 2020 can be furloughed.
Zero hours contract: These workers (provided they are on the PAYE system) can be furloughed. Special rules apply to assist with the calculation of the 80 % of salary.
Employees who are suspended on a disciplinary matter remain employees and can be placed on furlough. However, many complexities will result from this.
In any circumstances employers should only have been using suspension with reasonable cause and in accordance with a right to suspend on full pay in the contract of employment. Any suspensions should be as brief as possible, so ideally the employer should resolve the suspension situation promptly.
When employees are on furlough, they must not to do any work for their employer that:
makes money for the employer or any organisation linked or associated with it
provides services for the employer or any organisation linked or associated with it
If an employee is still working (even if pay and hours are reduced) then the employer cannot furlough them and claim the government grant under the scheme. Even tasks such as basic administration, replying to customer care emails or briefing colleagues with handover information are services. Even if these tasks are not revenue generating, they may count as work. Furloughed employees can’t provide services for their employer even if it’s in a different role, unless the official advice changes.
Furloughed employees can take part in training. They can also work or volunteer for another organisation. Apprentices can be furloughed in the same way as other employees and can continue to train if furloughed.
Whilst it may be difficult to check if work is being undertaken, HMRC expressly retain the right to retrospectively audit all aspects of employers’ claims. Employers who flout the rules will be committing a criminal offence and will jeopardise all the payments under the coronavirus job retention scheme.
An employee who is furloughed must not work for the employer at all to be able to claim the salary reimbursement from the government. The grant does not cover the wages of employees who work reduced hours due to the virus. So, it is in the employers’ interests to ensure the employee does not do any work for them.
Furloughed employees can do volunteer work or training without jeopardising the furlough payment, as long as they don’t provide services or generate revenue for the employer.
HMRC retain the right to retrospectively audit all aspects of employers’ claims. Employers who are found to be abusing the scheme could potentially face criminal prosecution for fraud. Presumably if HMRC discover one employee has in fact been working during the period of furlough this would put the entire grant received for other employees in jeopardy as well. There is also always a risk that HMRC will investigate if another employee or third party notifies them that there has been a breach.
The employee can hold a separate employment with a different and unconnected employer which will be unaffected. See the question ‘what if the employee has a second job?’ for more information.
Employees who have been furloughed cannot generate revenue or provide services to the employer during the furlough leave period. This creates a problem for some employers operating their disciplinary and grievance processes:
Yes, if this continues employees can go on and off furlough. Employees must be furloughed for at least three weeks, so, employees can be moved in and out of furlough on a three week or longer basis.
Obviously if the employer’s business is one where employees have no alternative but to physically attend work on a regular or occasional basis, then longer rotations are better. This also decreases the risks of spreading the infection.
Employers are still liable for employer NI and employer pension contributions on behalf of their furloughed employees but can claim for these under the scheme. The reclaimable NI and pension elements are based on the furlough salary, not normal salary.
The reimbursement from HMRC covers wages equal to the lower of 80% of the employee’s regular salary or £2,500 per month, plus the associated employer NI and pension (minimum automatic enrolment) contributions.
Whilst minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions can be claimed for as well as the 80% salary any employer contributions above the mandatory contribution are not covered.
If employers choose to top-up the 20% of salary above the 80% grant, then employer NI and pension contribution on the top-up amount will not be funded through the coronavirus job retention scheme.
Whilst minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions that are paid on the subsidised furlough pay can be claimed for as well as the 80% salary, any employer contributions above the mandatory contribution are not covered. The maximum level of grant for employer pension contributions is set in line with the minimum automatic enrolment employer contribution of 3% on qualifying earnings. Grants for pension contributions can be claimed up to this cap as long as the employer pays the whole amount claimed into a pension scheme as the employer’s contribution.
When the government first launched the furlough scheme eligible employees had to be on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 28 February 2020. This payroll date has now been extended to 19 March 2020.
The position is that employers can furlough the following employees:
Employees where the employer notified HMRC that they were on the payroll before 28 February 2020.
Employees who were on the payroll on or before 28 February 2020 but were made redundant, laid off, furloughed or stopped working for the employer before 19 March 2020.Employees placed on payroll after 28 February but before 19 March 2020 can also now be placed on furlough although HMRC must have been notified of their addition to the PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020.
In all cases the employees must not be doing any work for the employer during furlough and the employer must have a UK payroll and UK bank account and have enrolled for PAYE online.
Employees added to the PAYE payroll after 19 March 2020 cannot be furloughed by the new employer unless there has been a qualifying transfer.
Employers should normally base their claim for the 80% of a salaried employee’s wages on the employee’s last pay period prior to 19 March 2020.
However, the payroll date under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has changed from 28 February to 19 March. This has made the way in which employers calculate the 80% of the wages more complicated.
For employers who have already used the previous guidance to make their calculations these employers can make the 80% calculations based on either:
the employee’s salary as at 28 February 2020, or
the employee’s salary in the last pay period before 19 March 2020.
If there has been another pay period between 28 February and 19 March employers can therefore opt to use either calculation, as they wish. Although these two figures may be the same, in some cases the calculations may be different if another pay period has fallen between before 19 March.
Employers should include any regular payments they are obliged to pay employees in the figure used as the basis of their calculations. This will include wages, past overtime, fees and compulsory commission payments. However, discretionary bonus (including troncs and tips) and discretionary commission payments and non-cash payments should not be included.
average monthly earnings from the 2019-20 tax year.
If the employee has been employed for less than 12 months before the claim, then the employer has to use an average of the actual monthly earnings since the employee’s start date.
For employees who only started during February or March 2020 the employers will have to use those earnings on a pro rata basis.
Irregular salaried employees' furlough pay can be based on a previous earnings average. For employees who have been employed for a full 12 months prior to the claim, the amount is the highest of:
the same month’s earning from 2019; or
average monthly earnings from the 2019-20 tax year.
For employees who have been employed for less than 12 months before the claim, the employer bases their 80% on an average of actual monthly earnings since the employee's start date. If the employee only started part way during February or March, the employer will have to make a pro-rata calculation based on their earnings so far.
The detailed government guidance does not yet address if furloughed workers can cash in holiday to top up their 80% salary pay if the employer has chosen not to top up the pay. However, if holiday is taken employers should probably top up the holiday pay to the full normal salary amount. If it is not taken, annual leave continues to accrue during furlough.
If employees book holiday time to take off during furlough, employers can claim for 80% of the holiday pay through the grant, in the same way as normal salary.
Government guidance states that the employer and employee must agree in writing that the employee will cease all work. Depending on the wording of the contract, most employees have to agree to being furloughed anyway, especially if the employer is not topping up their pay.
Yes, employers can require furloughed employees to use up their take holiday leave during furlough. Employers may want to do this to reduce outstanding annual leave to be taken once the lockdown ends and businesses return to normal.
Standard employment law provisions (which are not frequently used) state that employers can require force workers to take holiday as long as they give twice as many days’ notice as the period of leave the worker is required to take. For example, if the employer requires the worker to take two week's annual leave at a certain time, it must give the worker at least four weeks' advance notice (or whatever is outlined in the employment contract).
So, an employer could furlough the employee and require a proportion of that to be annual holiday as long as the requisite notice is given. Insisting an employee take annual leave during a period of furlough, when government advice prevents them from travelling freely anywhere, is not without risk. The employees’ agreement should therefore be sought to take annual leave while on furlough. Employees may agree as it would be on full pay.
Updated Acas guidance clarifies that employees can ask for and take holiday leave as usual while on furlough. However, this remains a complicated issue, particularly in relation to pay, and employers may need to seek specific advice, especially if a disagreement arises.
The furlough scheme is set to run until 30 June 2020, meaning there will be four bank holidays during this time (10 April, 13 April, 8 May and 25 May). Employees who are usually entitled to take bank holidays as holidays will still be able to take these holidays while they are on furlough, unless the employer agrees something different. For example, employees who are working from home may take those days off.
There is currently no detailed government guidance on the relationship between annual leave (including bank holidays) and furlough leave. Based on the existing law, employers should probably pay employees in full for bank holidays that fall during furlough if the employees normally have bank holidays off as part of their contractual holiday entitlement. Alternatively, employers may agree to employees taking compensatory days of annual leave later on.
If employees normally work bank holidays and there is no contractual entitlement to leave then bank holidays will have no effect on their pay during the furlough period, and their annual leave entitlement will not be affected either.
Yes, employers have to pay full holiday pay if holiday is taken during a furlough period.
The guidance is not clear on the relationship between furlough and holiday, the interrelationship is untested and legal advice may need to be taken if a problem arises.
Yes, as employees remain employed during furlough leave statutory holiday will accrue during the furlough period. The statutory minimum holiday of 5.6 weeks per year will accrue, but the precise amount of holiday left will depend upon how much holiday the employee has already taken and how much they take during furlough.
If the employer provides contractual holiday, above the statutory amount, employers can ask the employees to agree this will not accrue during furlough. However, the right to accrue annual leave under the Working Time Regulations will continue unless the employee books part of the furlough period as leave.
Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement by the end of 2020 due to COVID-19 have a new legal right be able to carry it over into the next two leave years. Employers’ leave years will vary; in some cases this period aligns with the calendar year, in other cases the financial year, the academic year, or the anniversary of when the employee started employment.
UK workers are usually entitled to 28 days holiday per year including bank holidays. This entitlement cannot normally be carried forward into the next leave year unless the employee:
agrees this with the employer; or
is on long-term sickness absence; or
is on maternity leave and unable to take all of her entitlement as a result.
Payments in lieu of holiday are usually disallowed unless the worker is leaving the employer. However, this has been changed under amendments to the Working Time Regulations. The new provisions:
To prevent workers losing their holiday and to enable key workers to keep working, the normal rules on carrying over annual leave have been modified. This will support provision of staff in key sectors (such as food and healthcare) during the pandemic without them losing out on holiday entitlement.
Employers can now allow up to four weeks (not the full 28 days) of unused leave to be carried into the next two leave years. The rules say that it must be ‘not reasonably practicable’ for the worker to take some, or all, of the holiday to which they are entitled due to the coronavirus. If so, they can carry four weeks forward for two years.
Employees on who are on sick leave or self-isolating should normally get Statutory Sick Pay. There has now been additional government guidance on this:
If an employee is on sick leave or self-isolating due to Coronavirus, the employee should be on Statutory Sick Pay. The illness or self-isolation should not be a trigger in deciding whether to furlough an employee. Employers can place employees on furlough leave after their sick pay period if appropriate. The furlough scheme is not intended as an alternative for sickness absence, the illness may be short term and furlough periods are at least 3 weeks.
If employers are in the process of furloughing employees anyway for business reasons and some employees are off sick, the employer can furlough the sick employees with other staff. In these cases, the employee will receive furlough pay instead of Statutory Sick Pay because the furlough will end their sick pay entitlement.
If an employee is already on furlough leave when they become ill the guidance suggests that it is the employer’s choice whether to keep them on furlough, at their furloughed rate of pay, or end the period of furlough and move the employee onto Statutory Sick Pay.
If an employee is moved onto Statutory Sick Pay employers must cease the claim for the furlough salary.
Employers may qualify for a rebate for up to two weeks of Statutory Sick Pay. Employers can claim a grant under both the furlough scheme and the sick pay rebate scheme for the same employee, but not for the same period of time.
Although employees who are receiving Statutory Sick Pay cannot claim furlough pay, employees who are on long-term sick leave can be furloughed. HMRC guidance on the scheme was updated to confirm that the scheme is not intended as an alternative for short-term sickness absences, but employers can furlough employees who are on sick including those off on long-term sick leave if there is a business reason.
If employers bring employees back from furlough early because other people become sick the employer will lose the ability to claim three weeks of 80% and will need to increase the employee’s pay for those weeks.
Staff can be furloughed and return to work and then be furloughed again for as long as the scheme is operational. However, each furlough period must be for a minimum of three consecutive weeks. If an individual is only furloughed for one or two weeks and is then summoned back to working (either working from home or in the workplace) then the employer cannot claim under the scheme for the contribution to pay for that period.
Decisions on whether or not to allow construction to take place sits with the PCC or Chapter. This guidance from the Church of England aims to help clergy, PCCs and cathedral Chapters decide whether it is safe and appropriate to allow construction work to begin or re-start on their buildings:
It is often a condition of insurance that where buildings are not being used, they should be regularly inspected – preferably weekly. A suggestion is that someone could inspect the church as part of taking their exercise walk. Ecclesiastical Insurance have more information on this here. Those who are insured with Trinitas should contact them for advice. If your church is insured with another provider, please contact them.
Ecclesiastical Insurance has produced this helpful guide to caring for church buildings and property during the Coronavirus outbreak
This is a decision that needs to be taken locally - but if your PCC arees that this can be done whilst observing all government guidance on social distancing, the maintanence of churchyards should be possible under current restrictions.
Where a PCC has a church hall which is used by other groups, it should consider whether it would be appropriate for it to take steps to support HM Government’s guidance on social distancing.
Where a lease or licence is in place, this will regulate the formal relationship between the parties, and care should be taken not to act in a way which may be considered to be a breach by the PCC of the terms of the lease or licence.
Where there is no such agreement, the PCC should take such action (which may include closing the hall for use in certain circumstances and in light of the clear advice of the Government) as appears to it to be appropriate. The PCC should adopt a consistent approach to all users.
A PCC will wish to be mindful of the fact that in the local community, many may not distinguish between the PCC as the ‘owner’ of a property and other groups as users, and so the behaviour of users is rightly a matter of concern to the PCC.
It is a statutory requirement that public notice be given, in a specified form, in relation to most petitions for faculty. Public notices must normally be displayed both inside and outside the relevant church or churches.
In view of the restriction on public worship and the closure of church buildings, the display of public notices will no longer achieve the intended degree of publicity for the proposals contained in the petition.
Where a parish wishes to petition for a faculty at this exceptional time, the petitioners are invited to consider in what other ways, in addition to the statutory notices which must still be displayed inside and outside the church, publicity may be given to the proposals. Such publicity might take the form of a copy of the public notice on a village noticeboard or on a parish website.
Whilst it will be a matter for the Commissary General to determine on the merits of each case, this is intended to assist parishes in being able to secure a faculty for non-contentious matters without delay, even where there is no public access to the church.
In an emergency situation, it will remain possible for an interim faculty to be obtained. Parishes should approach Edmund Harris, the DAC Secretary and the Archdeacon for advice in the first instance, as usual.
DAC meetings have been suspended until further notice and any vital business will be transacted by e-mail. Apart from some cases already being processed where decisions can be taken and communicated easily, the work of the DAC will be on an emergency-only basis.
As site visits are not now possible, all discussion of new development projects and non-essential repair work will be placed on hold until further notice. Most - if not all - cases which do require a decision will be handled by the Standing Committee with appropriate expert advice.
The Registry is still functioning but at a reduced level, since its staff are now working from home. Therefore, only urgent casework can be dealt with, such as temporary works following an emergency. All quinquennial inspections that have fallen due should be postponed until further notice.
However, the DAC team remains committed to providing parishes with all the support and advice that they need to keep their buildings in good shape and fit for purpose. They will add all incoming queries to a waiting list for processing when all the restrictions have been removed and normal service can resume.If you have any queries, please contact Edmund Harris.
Where a nursery is in a church hall or any other building, then there is nothing to stop it reopening in line with the normal Government guidance (and many may have remained open for the children of keyworkers). However, where a nursery is held in the church building itself, this is technically still not possible under Government guidance, for the time being.
We have taken the decision to close Diocesan House from 24 March, 2020 and all Diocesan Staff have been enabled to work from home, with some staff on furlough. We plan to reopen diocesan house for some staff - but not for external meetings - fdrom 6 July. However, many staff will continue to work from home, as per govenrment guidance.
The Diocesan staff team remains committed to supporting you as you our frontline workers during this national crisis - and (as long as they remain well) will continue to be available to you by phone and email, whether they do it from an office or their kitchen table. If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to call Diocesan House on 01227 459401 - we will continue to run a switchboard service from this number.
We have received a number of questions from church officers concerned about their church’s financial situation given the radical actions being taken by our government to curtail the further spread of the Coronavirus and to protect those most vulnerable in our communities.
In particular we are aware of the concerns about the suspension of public worship in our churches and the cancellation of church based events and the impact all this will have on parish finances. Understandably we expect parish income to be reduced and, as this is unlikely to be matched by similar reductions in church expenditure, we understand that there will be a negative impact on parish finances.
We have asked the National Church for financial assistance during these exceptional times and they are working out what might be possible, so we are unable to be more specific about what that mean for Canterbury Diocese until we have a formal response from them - please bear with us.
As Archbishop Justin said, the Church of England is not closing down – but Church is changing. This has to be so if the Church of England is to continue to be the Church for England - our ministry is now needed more than ever in so many different ways.
People are confused, vulnerable, losing jobs, insecure, fearful, unwell, dying and asking a great deal of questions. We must make sure our front line ministers are able to be there for those most in need, freed from uncertainties about their own situation. But it is Parish Share that provides the means by which these ministers are resourced. They also need to be sure of the support of our diocesan officers when they turn to them - as they are now doing increasingly - to help them to offer support to their communities. Our Diocesan House is endeavouring to stay open as long as it is possible and permitted to do so, but even if it has to close , our staff will continue to resource parish ministry however we can through remote working.
It is tempting at the times of reducing church income to simply stop or reduce the payment of Parish Share, but Canterbury Diocese does not have the funds and reserves to support our ministry if there are wholesale reductions in Parish Share payments.
So can we encourage all churches to please ensure that they continue to pay as much Parish Share as they are able, within the constraints of their own reduced income? We are making every effort to reduce our non-essential costs as far as possible. We hope that if we all seek to work together in faith and generosity we can support all those on our front line ministry to bring the hope of the gospel of Christ into a hugely challenging national and international situation.
To make you aware of what we are doing at a diocesan level to manage this challenging financial situation:
We are in regular conversation with the Church Commissioners, who have agreed to offer us a loan to cover stipends for the coming period. We will also be exploring what other options there may be for support from the National Church.
We are also seeking to make use of the Government's recently-announced Job Retention Scheme, allowing staff to effectively take extended time off work but continue to receive their salary, heavily subsided by the Government - thus saving some of our budgeted spend. This may be something that can be explored locally with church employees. We are seeking to do this in a way which does not impede essential support for parish ministry - please be assured that the team remains here to help you.
Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy.
Sustain and support the anxious,
be with those who care for the sick,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may find comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen
