Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Thursday announced further changes to the Job Support Scheme, which has been put in place to subsidies businesses unable to have their staff back working full-time as the varied degrees of lockdown continue.
Only one month since the Chancellor first announced the scheme, it has been revamped to offer a more generous package, after the original terms were criticised.
The key points of the changes made are that:-
1. Under the Job Support Scheme for open businesses, employer contribution for unworked hours will be reduced to 5%. The Government contribution for hours not worked increases to 61.67% (subject to a cap of £1541.75 per month). Employees are now only required to work a minimum of 20% of their usual hours (pre-furlough);
2. The self-employed grant will double from 20% to 40% of profits (increasing the max grant to £3,750);
3. Additional funding for grants to support businesses in high-alert level areas which are not legally required to close but are severely impacted has been approved.
Further detailed guidance is expected. In the meantime, our Employment team are presently advising clients on steps they need to take to now ahead of 1 November in order to take advantage of the new schemes. If you would like further bespoke and detailed guidance, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our Employment team on info@ramsdens.co.uk, fill in our online enquiry form or call 01484 821 500.