he UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will officially end on October 31st (yes the same date as Halloween).
It comes after nearly 10 million people in the UK had their wages subsidised by the government with the furlough scheme paying 80% of employees wages and their National Insurance (NI) contributions between March and July. In August, employers had to pay their employee’s NI contributions and in September employers had to pay 10% of furloughed employee’s wages with the government paying the remaining 70%.
Since 1st October, employers had to pay 20% of furloughed employee’s wages and the government covered 60%. However, the Furlough Scheme will end on 31st October and here we explain what is going to happen now.
What will happen going forward?
On 1st November the government will launch the Job Support Scheme which will help employers keep their staff.
Employees must work at least 20% of their usual hours for which their employer must pay them normally. For their hours not worked the employee will receive 66.67% of their normal pay – 5% of which will be paid by their employer (up to a maximum of £125) and the remaining 61.67% paid by the government (up to a maximum of £1, 541.75).
If a business is legally forced to close due to local restrictions, employees will receive two-thirds of their pay from their employer but this will be paid by the government. Individual employers can pay employees more if they wish.
The Job Support Scheme will run from 1st November 2020 until 30th April 2021. In January 2021, the government will review the scheme and announce further details.
Who is eligible for the Job Support Scheme?
- Employees who were employed by the business between 6th April 2019 and 23rd September 2020
- A person who is considered to be an employee for tax purposes
- Employees on any type of contract including permanent, temporary, full time, part-time or zero-hour contracts
Employees do not need to have benefited from the Furlough Scheme to be eligible for the Job Support Scheme.
