Expansion Of The Job Support Scheme

With the new three-tier local restrictions in place, the Chancellor has expanded the Job Support Scheme for businesses forced to close their doors. The Government are hoping this will calm fears from a second spike ...

"The Job Support Scheme has expanded and now pays 2/3 of an employee's wages for businesses that have to close!"

Reworking the Job Support Scheme means the Government is trying to help businesses survive a local lockdown without laying employees off, however, they still have to pay any employer's NIC and minimum pension contributions on any wages.

Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has tried to protect jobs throughout the country and has been very generous in supporting businesses to keep people employed. This new style of restricted furlough scheme will extend on that. The Government now believes it has an 'economic toolkit' ready to help the right businesses with the right support at the right time.

For a business to be eligible for support, employees must be furloughed for at least 7-days at a time. They will then receive 66% of their wages. They must have been on payroll before the 23rd September 2020 and included on an RTI return. The employer pays the wages upfront, also pays employer's NIC and pension contributions, then claims back the wage part from HMRC. This is capped at £2,100 per month.

"The employee must give up 1/3 of their wages and agree to changes in their employment terms if they're not on zero hours contracts!"

The Government believes that half of employees will not be paid enough to trigger employer NIC liabilities and pension contributions so think this is a good ways to protect jobs throughout the country.

The online portal for employers to claim under the expanded JSS scheme opens on the 1st December 2020.

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