Last Friday, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced an extension to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). For many, this is a very welcome development ...
- From 1st July 2020, the CJRS has been made more flexible, enabling employers to bring furloughed employees back in a part-time capacity, whilst still receiving a grant for the days of the week they are not working.
- As of 1st August 2020, employers need to contribute to the wage costs of their furloughed staff with this contribution gradually increasing in September and October.
- The CJRS will close to new applicants from 30th June 2020.
When it comes to part-time furloughing, businesses using the scheme from 1st July will have the flexibility to choose the hours and shift patterns of their employees giving the business the opportunity it needs to get employees working as much or as little as needed. This has been introduced a month earlier than expected.
Any part-time arrangements covered under the CJRS must be notified to the employee in writing, and the agreement must cover at least one week. Businesses will be expected to submit information on the actual hours worked, compared to the employees normal working hours.
If an employee cannot return to work, or the employer does not have any work for them, they can remain on full furlough with the business claiming the grant for their full hours under the current rules.
For June and July, the Government will continue to pay 80% of wages as well as NI and Pension contributions for the hour's employees didn't work. In August, employers will begin to pay National Insurance and Pension contributions which represent just 5% of the employment costs had the employee not been furloughed.
As of September 2020, the Government will pay 70% of wages up to a cap of £2,187.50 for hours employees do not work, and the employer will pay 10% of wages to make up the cap to £2,500. That changes in October to 60% before the scheme closes.
The Chancellor also announced an extension to SEISS with self-employed people able to claim a second and final SEISS grant in August. Again, this will be a taxable grant, but this time worth 70% of their average monthly trading profits for three months, paid out in a single instalment.
Eligibility for the second grant remains the same as for the first grant, and people do not have to have claimed the first grant to be eligible for the second one. So far, over 2.3 million claims have been made for SEISS worth in excess of £6.8 billion.
If you feel inspired to find out more about anything I've said here, do call me on 01908 774320 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.