Oct 7th, 2020
7 mins
It is now the last month of the government’s furlough scheme, with employers now having to pay 20% towards the salaries of staff who cannot work due to Covid-19. November 30th is the last date to submit claims under this scheme. This will then be replaced by the Job Support Scheme as from November 1st to those eligible. For more information see below link:
Job Support Scheme – Starts November 2020
The Job Support Scheme starts from 1st November which aims to protect viable jobs where businesses are facing lower demands over the winter months due to Covid-19. Under this scheme employees will have to work at least a third of their hours. The Job Support Scheme will run for six months from 1 November. It will top up salaries in companies which cannot take employees back full-time. To be eligible, employees must be in a ”viable job” where they can work for at least one-third of their normal hours. For the hours not worked, the government and employer will each pay one-third of the remaining wages. This means the employee would get at least 77% of their pay (similar to the 80% contribution under furlough). Businesses will not be able to issue redundancy notices to employees on the scheme. To be eligible, employees must:
- Be registered on your PAYE payroll on or before 23 September 2020 and submission of notifying payment in respect of that employee must also have been made to HMRC on or before 23 September 2020
- Work at least 33% of their usual hours. The government will consider whether to increase this minimum hour threshold after the first three months of the scheme.
The Job Support Scheme will be open to employers across the UK, even if you have not previously applied under the Job Retention Scheme. The Job Support Scheme will start from 1 November and you will be able to claim in December. Grants will be paid monthly. For more information see below link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/job-support-scheme
Employers using the Job Support Scheme will also be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus if they meet the eligibility criteria.
Job Retention Bonus Scheme – Available from February 2021
The Job Retention Bonus is a £1,000 one-off taxable payment to the employer, for each eligible employee that you furloughed and kept continuously employed until 31 January 2021.You’ll be able to claim the bonus between 15 February 2021 and 31 March 2021. You do not have to pay this money to your employee. You can claim the bonus if you are an employer who has furloughed employees and made an eligible claim for them through the Job Retention Scheme. Your employee must have been eligible for the Covid-19 Job Retention Scheme grant for you to be eligible for the bonus. You can still claim the bonus if you make a claim for that employee through the Job Support Scheme. You can claim for employees that:
- you made an eligible claim for under the Job Retention Scheme
- you kept continuously employed from the end of the claim period of your last Job Retention Scheme claim for them, until 31 January 2021
- are not serving a contractual or statutory notice period for you on 31 January 2021 (this includes people serving notice of retirement)
- you paid enough an amount in each relevant tax month and enough to meet the Job Retention Bonus
If HMRC are still checking your Job Retention Scheme claims, you can still claim the Job Retention Bonus, but your payment may be delayed until those checks are completed.
