Weekly Covid-19 Business Updates

Important information for businesses and the self-employed.

Earlier this year we decided to stop sending out weekly information as COVID-19 related changes were slowing down.

Sadly, cases are rising and the government is issuing more information and support for businesses. Therefore we'll be restarting our regular emails to help small businesses make sense of all the changes.

This edition outlines important information on the Job Support Scheme which aims to help individuals and businesses deal with the challenges created by COVID-19, including how to help employers retain their employees. - Read more

This email also covers grant information for the self-employed. - Read more

In addition to these regular emails, we will continue to provide monthly support and advice, including how to prepare your business for COVID-related changes. This month, we outlined four simple steps and practical advice to help prepare your business for a sudden increase in COVID‑19 restrictions. - Read more

As always, there is an ETC Consultant on standby if you need help. Please call me on 0330 0904 565 or use the contact us form on our website.

Please keep safe.

Doug D'Aubrey.

Job Support Scheme (JSS)

Decreased demand so shortened employee hours (JSS open)

The employee will need to work a minimum of 20% of their usual hours and the employer will continue to pay them as normal for the hours worked. Alongside this, the employee will receive 66.67% of their normal pay for the hours not worked - this will be made up of contributions from the employer and from the government. The employer will pay 5% of reference salary (see below for details) for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £125 per month, with the discretion to pay more than this if they wish. The government will pay the remainder of 61.67%, of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month. This will ensure employees continue to receive at least 73% of their normal wages, where they earn £3,125 a month or less.

Employers who are legally required to close their premises (JSS Closed)

Each employee who cannot work due to these restrictions will receive two-thirds of their normal pay, paid by their employer and fully funded by the government, to a maximum of £2,083.33 per month, although their employer has the discretion to pay more than this if they wish. This will help protect employee incomes, limit unemployment and retain employer-employee matches so that these premises are able to reopen as quickly as possible when circumstances allow.

Employees may also be entitled to additional financial support, including Universal Credit.

When does JSS start?

The Job Support Scheme will be open from 1 November 2020 and run for 6 months, until 30 April 2021. The government will review the terms of the scheme in January. Employers will be able to claim in arrears from 8 December 2020, with payments made after the claim has been approved. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have benefitted from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to be eligible for the Job Support Scheme.

Further guidance on the steps that employers need to take to calculate and make a claim to the Job Support Scheme will be published by the end of October.

Who can Claim?

1. You have to be enrolled for PAYE online
2. You have to have UK, Channel Island or Isle of Man bank account
3. Your employee must have been on payroll between 6th April 2019 and 11:59pm on 23rd September 2020
4. You can only claim for employees that were in their employment on 23 September 2020. If employees ceased employment after 23 of September 2020 and were subsequently rehired, then employers can claim for them.
5. Your employees can be on any type of contract, including zero-hours or temporary contracts.
6. Your employees do not need to have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to be eligible for the Job Support Scheme.
7. You will be able to top up employee wages above the level of minimum contributions at their own expense if they wish.
8. Employers cannot claim both JSS Open and JSS Closed in respect of a single employee for the same day.
9. JSS open some, or all, of their employees are working reduced hours - employees must still be working for at least 20% of their usual hours
10. JSS closed that the employer has instructed to and who cease work for a minimum period of at least 7 consecutive calendar days
11. Employers cannot claim for an employee who has been made redundant or is serving a contractual or statutory notice period during the claim period.
12. Points to note:The Job Support Scheme grant will not cover National Insurance contributions (NICs) or pension contributions. These contributions remain payable by the employer.
13. Employers must deduct and pay to HMRC income tax and employee NICs on the full amount that is paid to the employee, including any amounts subsequently met by a scheme grant.
14. Employers must also pay to HMRC any employer NICs due on the full amount that that is paid to the employee, including any amounts subsequently met by a scheme grant.
15. Employers must report these payments via a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC on or before the pay date in the normal way.
16. Employers and Employees must also still pay pension contributions in accordance with the applicable pension scheme terms, unless the employee has opted out or stopped saving into their pension. If applicable Student Loan deductions and the Apprenticeship Levy must also still be paid.
17. Employers will be able make their first claim from 8 December 2020 on GOV.UK. Employers will be able to claim from 8 December, covering salary for pay periods ending and paid in November. Subsequent months will follow a similar pattern, with the final claims for April being made from early May. More detail about this process will be published in guidance by the end of October 2020.
18. The amount an employer should use for calculating an employees’ reference salary is made up of the regular payments they are obliged to make, including:

• regular wages
• non-discretionary payments for hours worked, including overtime
• non-discretionary fees
• non-discretionary commission payments
• piece-rate payments

Reference salary

For employees who are paid a fixed salary, the Reference Salary is the greater of:

• the wages payable to the employee in the last pay period ending on or before 23 September 2020
• the wages payable to the employee in the last pay period ending on or before 19 March 2020, this may be the same salary calculated under the CJRS scheme

For employees whose pay is variable the Reference Salary is the greater of:

• the wages earned in the same calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020
• the average wages payable in the tax year 2019 to 2020
• the average wages payable from 1 February 2020 (or the employee’s start date if later) until 23 September 2020

Self-employed Support

• The government will provide two taxable SEISS grants to support those experiencing reduced demand due to COVID-19 but are continuing to trade, or temporarily cannot trade.
• It will be available to anyone who was previously eligible for the SEISS grant one and grant two and meets the eligibility criteria.
• Grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments each covering 3 months. The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November 2020 until the end of January 2021. The government will pay a taxable grant which is calculated based on 40% of three months’ average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment and capped at £3,750.
• The second grant will cover a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April 2021. The government will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.
• For more information, see the HMRC website

As the pandemic continues, local areas are introducing tougher lockdown measures to help keep people safe.

These new restrictions are often announced just days before they're enforced, and as a business owner: Is your business prepared for a sudden change in the rules?

We've outlined four simple steps and practical advice to help prepare your business for a sudden increase in COVID-19 restrictions.

Read the full article

We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.

If you need any help, please contact me on 0330 0904 565 or using the contact us form on our website.

Please continue to stay safe, follow the advice from the government and continue to support one another.

Best regards,

The ETC team ETC Executive Training & Consultancy

134 Stourbridge Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 2ER

t - 01384 355 444

e - doug@exec-tc.com

w - www.exec-tc.com

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