After the Chancellors announcement of the revised Job Retention Scheme and the self employment grant, there are some details below which hopefully clarify things for you going forward if you are using or intend to use the scheme.
What are the changes
From 01 July you can bring back employees that have been furloughed for any amount of time on a part time basis if necessary.
This basically means that if your employees only need to be in work for two days a week to meet demand, you can furlough them for the other three days and claim the furlough grant for those three days.
The total furlough period on a claim will need to be at least a week per employee but does not have to be a continuous week.
The scheme is being closed to new entrants on the 30 June, this means that they will only be able to claim the flexible furlough for employees who have already been furloughed for the minimum period of three weeks prior to the 30 June.
This basically means that if you want to furlough someone new, you need to do it by 10 June 2020 in order for them to be eligible after the 30 June.
We will have some further information on how the claims are to be calculated and more clarity on the scheme going forward on the 12 June.
The amount available to claim from the Government
August 2020 – The government will pay 80% of the gross wages of an employee up to £2,500. Employers will pay the Employers National Insurance and Pension contributions of furloughed employees from this date. For most small businesses, you will still have some of your Employment Allowance remaining so I expect that the real cost to you will be the pension amounts.
September 2020 – The Government will pay 70% of the gross wages up to a capped amount of £2,187.50. Employers will pay Employers National Insurance, pension contributions and also 10% of the gross wages to make up the 80% of gross salary up to the original cap of £2,500.
October 2020 – The Government will pay 60% of gross wages up to a capped amount of £1,875. Employers will pay Employers National Insurance, pension contributions and also 20% of the gross wages to make up the 80% of gross salary up to the original cap of £2,500.
Self Employed Income Support Scheme
You can still apply for the first instalment of the grant until the 13 July 2020. So if you haven’t done so already you have a little time.
They have announced that you will be able to apply for a second grant in August, although we have no date at this point.
The grant amount will be based on the same criteria as the first grant but this time is capped at 70% of your average monthly earnings for three months up to a maximum value of £6,570.
You don’t need to have claimed the first grant to claim the second grant.
If you have any queries or would like to discuss anything included in the above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.