More than six million companies and business owners have applied to the Government's furlough scheme since it opened on April 20.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said claims covering 67,000 employees were made in the first 30 minutes of the portal opening at 8am.
The scheme, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended until the end of October pays 80 per cent of employees’ wages up to £2,500 a month to save them being laid off during the coronavirus crisis.
He is now reportedly set to tell employers they will need to contribute to their furloughed workers’ salaries from August, however.
Mr Sunak is expected to make the announcement on Friday at the Downing Street press briefing.
How much are you entitled to and how do you claim? Here, we explain how the application process works.
What is furlough?
If a company is unable to operate or they have no work for staff to do during the pandemic, workers can be put "on furlough", which means they are kept on the payroll and not made redundant.
Employers facing difficulties are able to access support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to continue paying 80 per cent of staff wages, to avoid redundancies and keep paying staff.
Any workers on the company's PAYE payroll before February 28 can be put on furlough.
Under the Government scheme, workers will be paid 80 per cent of their wages, up to £2,500 a month, and continue to pay tax on their income.
Employers can agree to pay the extra 20 per cent, but do not have to.
It is important to note that both you and your employer must agree to put you on furlough and your employer must confirm in writing that you have been furloughed to be eligible to claim.
How do I make a claim?
Only employers can apply via the portal on behalf of their employees.
To claim for furlough in the Government’s portal, first you’ll need some information to hand. These include being registered with HMRC for PAYE online, your bank details, each employee’s National Insurance number and the start and end date of the claim.
If you’re claiming for 100 employees or more, you will additionally need to upload a document showing each worker’s NI number, furlough start date and full amount claimed.
You then enter your Government Gateway details on the portal and fill out the form on the gov.uk website, which has self-explanatory instructions at each stage.
For security reasons, the application gives you a 30 minute time-limit. The HMRC boss managing applications said it has been "tested at volume", able to handle 450,000 applications an hour, so should hopefully not crash.
What happens when I’ve made a claim?
After you’ve sent off your application, you’ll get a claim reference number which you must keep, along with the amount claimed, the claim period for each employee and your sums.
HMRC will then do some anti-fraud checks and will only contact you if they’ve got queries.
It is a Government requirement for you to tell your employees you have made a claim and pay them their furlough wages.
When will I get my money?
If all goes well, the money should be in your account within six working days.
How much will I be entitled to?
It depends what your normal salary is. Businesses are able to pay 80 per cent of employees’ regular monthly wage, or £2,500 a month - whichever is lower.
If on the scheme, employers must pay at least 80 per cent of their workers’ current income - but they can top this up if they wish.
It means that someone on £24,000 a year will earn at least £1,600 gross income on the furlough scheme.