[02.10.20]

Last week we sent to clients a briefing note on the Government’s new Job Support Scheme.  As we set out in that newsletter, employers can access the Job Support Scheme from 1^st November 2020 for six months.  The Scheme is for those employees who work at least 33% of their normally contracted hours.  The Government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap of £697.92 a month, with the employer also contributing a third of hours not worked.

We now have further information on this Scheme:

• To be eligible for the Scheme, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 23^rd September 2020. This means the employee must have been included in a Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC on or before 23 September 2020.

• Employees will be able to cycle on and off the scheme and do not have to be working the same pattern each month, but each short-time working arrangement must cover a minimum period of seven days.

• Employees cannot be made redundant or put on notice of redundancy during the period within which their employer is claiming the grant for that employee.

• Employers must agree the new short-time working arrangements with their staff, make any changes to the employment contract by agreement, and notify the employee in writing. This agreement must be made available to HMRC on request.

• Grant payments will be made in arrears, reimbursing the employer for the Government’s contribution. The grant will not cover Class 1 employer NICs or pension contributions, although these contributions will remain payable by the employer.

• Employers will be able to make a claim online through Gov.uk from December 2020. They will be paid on a monthly basis

We expect the Government to issue further guidance over the coming weeks, which we will share with clients.

Castletons Accountants