This blog post will outline changes and updates made recently to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Statutory Sick Pay and the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

Changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The Chancellor has recently announced changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point on wards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3-week period prior to 30 June. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June. Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.

From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that were previously on furlough for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still claiming the CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked.

The subsidy will diminish from August, with businesses expected to pay a greater share of their staff salaries, starting with covering Employer National Insurance and Pension contributions from August.

Then, from September the government will cover only 70% of salaries, to a cap of £2,190 and from October it will pay 60%, to a cap of £1,875. Employers will make up the shortfall to get salaries back to 80% of pre-Covid lockdown levels. After that, the scheme will close.

Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Scheme: now available from day one of sick leave

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Scheme is part of a package of support measures for businesses affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

This scheme will allow small and medium-sized employers to apply to HMRC to recover the costs of paying coronavirus-related SSP.

Employers can now make their claims through a new online service. This means they will receive repayments at the relevant rate of SSP that they have paid to current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020.

If employees that are shielding are on furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme they will no longer be able to receive SSP. Where an employee is told to shield and is not on furlough, the rebate will compensate up to 2 weeks of SSP from 16 April 2020.

The second part of the Self Employed Grant

The government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be extended, giving more security to individuals whose livelihoods will continue to be affected by coronavirus in the coming months. The SEISS will now be extended – with those eligible able to claim a second grant capped at £6,570.

• Individuals can continue to apply for the first SEISS grant until 13 July. Under the first grant, eligible individuals can claim 80% of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total.
• Applications for the second grant will open in August. Individuals will be able to claim a second taxable grant worth 70% of their average monthly trading profit. This is paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
• The eligibility criteria are the same for both grants, and individuals will need to confirm that their business has been adversely affected by coronavirus. An individual does not need to have claimed the first grant to receive the second grant: for example, they may only have been adversely affected by COVID-19 in this later phase.

If you have any questions regarding the changes and updates to the CJRS, SSP and SEISS, please feel free to contact us.

MediaGorilla®