Coronavirus Winter Support Schemes

The Chancellor announced yesterday that he is increasing the amounts available to businesses affected by Covid-19 & the new tier system.

The main announcements were as follows:

The Job Support Scheme

Job Support Scheme – Open (JSS – Open)

The JSS-Open scheme applies to businesses that are able to remain open but who are facing reduced demand due to the pandemic.

The JSS, which commences on 1 November, would have originally required employers to pay 33.33% of their employees’ wages for hours not worked, with the Government also paying 33.33% of these hours. Employees would have been required to work one-third of their normal hours.

The announcement yesterday means that employees will only need to work a minimum of 20% of their usual hours and the employer will continue to pay them as normal for the hours worked.

Alongside this, the employee will receive 66.67% of their normal pay for the hours not worked – this will be made up of contributions from the employer and from the government. The employer will pay 5% of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £125 per month (with the discretion to pay more than this if they wish). The government will pay the remaining 61.67%, of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month. Therefore, an employee who earns £3,125 per month or less will continue to receive at least 73% of their normal wages.

Job Support Scheme – Closed (JSS-Closed)

The JSS-Closed scheme is for businesses that are required to close as a direct result of coronavirus restrictions set by one or more of the four governments of the UK.

This scheme remains unchanged following yesterday’s announcements. Under this scheme each employee who cannot work due to the restrictions will receive 66.67% of their normal pay, fully funded by the government, up to a maximum of £2,083.33 per month. Employers have discretion to pay more than this if they wish

Both schemes will apply to employees that were on their employer’s payroll on 23 September 2020. This means that an RTI submission with that employee on it must have been filed on or before 23 September. If employees ceased employment after 23 of September 2020 and were subsequently rehired, then employers can claim for them.

Employers remain responsible for paying any employer National Insurance & employer pension contributions for their employees on the JSS.

The Government have not yet published all of the detailed eligibility criteria for the two schemes but all of the information currently available can be found here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-job-support-scheme/the-job-support-scheme

Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

The third grant under the SEISS was originally set to be 20% of average monthly profits, but this has now been increased to 40%, capped at £3,750 in total.
The eligibility criteria remain the same as for the fist two grants, with the additional requirement that the business is either actively trading but impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus or temporarily unable to trade because of coronavirus.
The level of the fourth grant will be reviewed by the Government in due course.
Businesses can claim the SEISS on top of any available grants.
Eligible individuals can claim Universal Credit even if they are getting grants under the SEISS but the SEISS counts as income for Universal Credit purposes.

Grants

The Chancellor also announced additional funding to support cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions. More details can be found here: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928760/BUSINESS_GRANTS_FACTSHEET.pdf