New Government Job Support Scheme

A new Job Support Scheme has been announced to protect viable jobs. It will start on 1 November 2020 and will last for a period of 6 months. Small and medium-sized companies will be entitled to take advantage of it. Large companies (no definitions as yet) will only be entitled to take advantage of it where their turnover has fallen during the pandemic.

Key points

It is a wage support scheme that will work as follows:

• It will be available where companies wish to bring people back on shorter hours, rather than make them redundant.
• The person must be working at least one third of their normal hours and be paid for these.
• Where an employee works at least 33% of their normal working hours, the Government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap of £697.92 per month, with the employer also contributing a third. This will ensure employees earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages, where the Government contribution has not been capped.
• The person in receipt of wage support need not have previously been furloughed.

The Government has indicated that it will provide a similar support package for the self-employed and can provide full details as they become clear.