COVID-19 Update – 23 October – Updated Job Support Scheme

The Chancellor provided updated guidance in Parliament on 22 October 2020 on the Job Support Scheme (JSS). This replaces the previous announcement he made on 24 September 2020.

The update related only to the JSS for employers that are not required to close (ie the Open JSS).  No changes were made to the JSS for closed businesses. More details on that scheme can be found here

The scheme goes live from 1 November 2020

• The requirement for the employee to work 33% of their hours has been reduced to needing to only work 20% of their hours;
• The government support has been increased from 33% to 61.67% for the unworked hours – up to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month per employee; and
• The extra amount that the employer needs to pay has been reduced from 33% to 5% of unworked hours (Capped at £125 per month)
• The employee does not need to have been furloughed previously but does need to have been on the payroll (an RTI submission on or before 23 September 2020)
• Employers can only claim for employees that were in their employment on 23 September 2020. If employees ceased employment after 23 of September 2020 and were subsequently rehired, then employers can claim for them.
• Large employers (with 250 or more employees) will have to meet a financial impact test, so the scheme is only available to those whose turnover has stayed level or is lower now than before Covid-19. There will be no financial impact test for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and charities.
• Fully publicly funded organisations are not expected to use the scheme, as has been the case with the CJRS, but partially publicly funded organisations are eligible where their private revenues have been disrupted.
• Employers can choose to top up wages if they wish
• Employers will be able to make a claim online through the Government portal from 8 December 2020. They will be paid on a monthly basis in arrears and will be reviewed by HMRC.
• To be eligible for the grant, employers must have reached a written agreement with their employee (or reached written collective agreement with a trade union where the relevant terms are determined by collective agreement) that they have been offered a temporary working agreement that must cover at least seven consecutive days. The agreement must be available for view by HMRC on request.
• Employees cannot be made redundant or put on notice of redundancy during the period within which their employer is claiming the grant for that employee.

Further details can be found here

Short summary of the Job Support Schemes

What will the employee receive and what will the cost be for the employer?

Our examples below highlights the gross pay the employee would receive and the cost to the employer using a scenario whereby the employee would normally receive £1,500 per month.

We can help with all the above.

If we already process your payroll then please contact your usual payroll contact.

If we do not process your payroll and you would like to discuss this please contact the payroll team on 01522 531341 or at payroll@wrightvigar.co.uk