Last week the government announced that it will be expanding its Job Support Scheme (JSS) in a bid to protect jobs and support businesses as many have been forced to close their doors once again.
Under the expansion, companies who have been forced to close due to stricter Coronavirus restrictions will be able to receive additional funding on top of the existing schemes they may already have claimed for.
Businesses which have been affected by local or national restrictions will receive grants to pay the wages of staff who can’t work. The government will support eligible companies by paying two thirds of each employees’ salary (or 67%), up to a maximum of £2,100 a month.
Under the scheme, employers will not be required to contribute towards wages and are only asked to cover National Insurance and pension contributions, which is a very small proportion of overall employment costs.
It’s estimated that around half of potential claims are not likely to incur employer NICs or auto-enrolment pension contributions and therefore face no employer contribution.
Businesses will only be eligible to claim the grant while they’re subject to restrictions and employees must be off work for a minimum of seven consecutive days.
The scheme will begin on 1 November and will be available for six months, with a review in January. In line with the rest of the JSS, payments to businesses will be made in arrears, via an HMRC claims service which will be available from early December. Employees of firms which have been legally closed in the period before 1 November are eligible for the CJRS.
The scheme is UK wide and the UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure the scheme operates across all four nations.
In addition to expansion of the JSS, the government is increasing cash grants to businesses in England in local lockdowns. These grants will be linked to rateable values, with up to £3,000 per month payable every two weeks. This could benefit hundreds of thousands of businesses including restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, bowling alleys and more.
More information can be found on the gov.uk website.
For more information about the Job Support Scheme (JSS) or keeping your business financially stable during these difficult times, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with PKB.
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