Job Support Scheme Expanded (For Businesses Required to Close)
As of the 26th October 2020, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has announced on Friday 9th October 2020 that the Government’s Job Support Scheme will be expanded to firms required to close due to COVID restrictions. On the 22nd October due to the new 3-Tier system, this will now be amended to the following.
There are two Job Support Schemes in operation. Both Job Support Schemes will be open from the 1st November 2020 for 6 months.
Businesses Open – Job Support Scheme OPEN
- Employees must work 20% of their usual hours – paid for my employer
- 66.67% of their normal pay for hours not worked – 5% Paid by Employer up to a max of £125 per month and 61.67% Paid by the Government up to £1541.75 per month.
- The Employee gets 73% of normal wages where they earn £3125 a month or less.
Businesses who are required to Close by the Government
- Only eligible for those businesses that have been forced to close due to the Government in areas of Tier 3
- This means employees get two-thirds of their normal salary for doing no work, paid entirely by the government up to a maximum of £2083.33 per month.
Eligibility Criteria for both Job Support Schemes
- Open to all on Tier 1, 2 and 3
- An employer can claim for a single employee under both schemes at the same time
- Employers must be enrolled onto PAYE
- Employers must have UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man Bank Account
Training in Hours/Unworked hours
- Employees can undertake voluntary training in non-working hours. If an employee does this then they would need to be paid a minimum of the NMW in excess of the grant payment which is paid for by the Employer.
Working Tax Credits
- Employes whose hours reduce due to COVID19 pandemic will continue to have access to Working Tax Credits and its childcare element for the duration of the JSS Scheme.
Parental Leave
This is currently being reviewed to avoid parents from losing out on their sentiments to parental pay as a result of being put on the JSS during the relevant assessment period.
This should be out by the end of October and we will update as soon as we receive more news.
Conditions of Claiming
Redundancy
- Employers cannot claim for an employee who has been made redundant or is serving a contractual or statutory notice period.
Employee Tax and NI Contributions
- This is not covered in the JSS these contributions remain payable by the employer.
Grant monies must only reimburse sums already paid to the employee
- Employers must have paid the full amount claimed for an employee’s wages to the employee before each claim is made.
Employers will be able to claim from 8th December, covering salary periods ending and paid in November.
Self Employed
- Self-employed workers will get 40% of their previous profit subsidised after a January grant was doubled.
- Sole traders will qualify for up to £3,750, based on 40% of historic average profits over three months.
- The grant will only be available to those who were previously eligible for the system of coronavirus self-employment grants.
- People need to have filed a tax return for 2018/19 and need to take more than half their total income from self-employment, for example. New firms don’t qualify.
- A second grant will be paid in around April 2021, but the level it will be set at has not been decided yet
Grants
In addition to the expansion of the JSS, the government is increasing the cash grants to businesses in England shut-in local lockdowns to support with fixed costs.
Tier 2 – These grants will be available between £934 to £2100 a month for hospitality, accommodation and leisure venues.
Tier 3 – These grants will be linked to rateable values, with up to £3,000 per month payable every two weeks, compared to the up to £1,500 every three weeks which was available previously. This could benefit hundreds of thousands of businesses, including restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, bowling alleys and many more.
The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will benefit from a £1.3bn increase to their guaranteed funding for 2020-21 – allowing them to continue their response to Covid-19 including through similar measures if they wish.
These measures will sit alongside the original JSS – which is designed to support businesses that are facing low demand over the winter months – and the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus (JRB) which encourages employers to keep staff on payroll.
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We will update as more information becomes available.
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