HMRC has updated information regarding the averaging method for employees on variable pay, this also known as the calendar look back method. For some employees, the reference salary is calculated using the amount paid in March and April 2019 rather than March and April 2020.
The Job Retention Scheme was originally due to close in 2020 and, at the time, the published calculation used 2020 as the reference year. This changed in late January 2021 so, at the moment, the Sage 50cloud Payroll Job Retention Scheme Module doesn't use the correct reference period for March/April 2021 claims for certain employees. These are employees whose pay varies and were employed by you on or before 19 March 2020. This means that you need to enter a manual value for these employees.
To get this manual value, we recommend using the JRS/JSS reports to get these employees average pay for the 2019/20 tax year and also the corresponding periods in March and April 2019.