The Chancellor has today announced additional measures to assist businesses impacted by further lockdown measures.  These come in the form of an expansion to the forthcoming Job Support Scheme for businesses whose premises are legally required to close as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.

From 1 November, UK firms that are forced to shut due to increased restrictions will receive a grant equal to two thirds of each affected employees’ wages paid for by the government, up to a maximum of £2,100 a month per employee.

In order for employers to make a claim, employees will need to be off work for a minimum of seven consecutive days at any given time. Employers will not be required to contribute towards wages and are only asked to cover NICS and pension contributions.

Employers must have a UK bank account and a UK PAYE scheme registered on or before 23 September 2020 and an RTI submission notifying payment to the employee being claimed for must have been made on or before this date. Neither the employer nor employee need have previously used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The scheme will begin on 1 November and will be available for six months, with a review point in January.

We are awaiting detailed guidelines on the Job Support Scheme as a whole and which we expect will also cover today’s announced expansion of it.  As soon as we have this, we will arrange a webinar to discuss the finer details of the scheme.

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