Many people have been waiting anxiously for further information on the Job Retention Scheme and to see if the Chancellor was going to extend the Self-employed Income Support Scheme. Today the Chancellor has made the following announcements.
1) Job Retention Scheme
In June and July 2020, the JRS will stay as it is – there will be no changes in how much the government contributes and how much the employer contributes.
In August 2020 the government will continue to pay the 80% of wages, but employers will be asked to pay the NI contributions and the Pension Contributions.
In September 2020 the government will pay 70% of the wages up to a maximum of £2,190 and employers will be asked to contribute 10% of the wages to ensure that employees are still receiving 80% of their wages, as well as the NI Contributions and Pension Contributions.
In October 2020 the government will pay 60% of the wages up to a maximum of £1,875 and employers will be asked to contribute 20% of the wages to ensure that employees are still receiving 80% of their wages, as well as the NI Contributions and Pension Contributions.
After October 2020, there will be no more JRS and employers will need to pay all of the payroll costs associated with having staff.
There will be a change to the scheme from July 1st, which will allow employers to bring staff back into the workplace on a parttime basis. Employers will be able to set the hours and shift patterns of those staff, but employers will pay all of the payroll costs towards those hours/days that staff work and the government will pay for the remaining hours/days in the month that the staff have been furloughed.
In order to allow the change from the current set up to the flexible scheme, employers will need to make their final JRS claim in its current format by 10/06/2020, to allow the employees to be furloughed for the minimum 3 week period, so that from July 1st, 2020 they can start to work in the business parttime.
2) Self-employed Income Support Scheme
The government will be opening up the scheme to applications in August for one final payment. To bring it in line with the JRS scheme, the government will only be paying 70% of the turnover for the three month period, up to a maximum of £6,570 (£2,190/month).
This will be the final extension to the SEISS grant – and there will not be any further payments made to self-employed businesses after August, in regards to this scheme.
As more information is released on either of these schemes, I will write further blog posts and share that information across social media and with my clients.
I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.
The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.
UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/
I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/