New Job Support Scheme

Job Support Scheme

The Job Support Scheme (JSS) will replace the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) at the end of October. The JSS will run from the 1 November 2020 for six months until April 2021.

Eligibility

Any business suffering from lower demand over the coming months as a result of ongoing restrictions due to Covid-19. The aim of the scheme is to protect viable jobs that are retained on a reduced work hours basis.

The scheme is not tied to the previous CRJS so neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the furlough scheme. To qualify the employee must be on the employers PAYE payroll on or before 23 September 2020 and a Real Time Information (RTI) submission sent to HMRC on or before 23 September 2020, will qualify.

How to qualify for the scheme

Employees must work at least 33% of their usual hours to qualify and paid their normal contracted wage for the hours worked.  The employer must also pay the employee a third of the hours not worked and the  government will also pay a third of the hours not worked by the employee.

The employee will earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wage. The government will pay 22% from the scheme in comparison to the more generous CJRS.

The grant will not cover Class 1 employer NICs or pension contributions, these will remain payable by the employer.

HMRC has stated that employers will not be able to top up their employees wages above the two-thirds contribution to hours not worked at their own expense.

When is the grant payable

The grants will be paid in arrears from December 2020 on a monthly basis following payment of wages to the employees and the RTI submissions sent to HMRC. The grants can only be used as reimbursement for wage costs actually incurred.

Worked example

Employee normally works five days per week usually earning £250 per week. under the JSS, the employer puts this employee on a reduced-hours working arrangement working two days a week (40% of the usual hours).

The employer will need to pay the employee £100 per week for the two days actually worked.

For the hours not worked (three days or 60%), the employee will be entitled to 2/3 of the usual wage related to these hours.

This is calculated as:-

Step 1 – £250 x 3/5 = £150 (related to hours not worked)

Step 2 – £150 x 2/3 = £100 (additional entitlement for hours not worked).

The total earnings for this employee is £200

The £100 amount due for the hours not worked is funded by the government grant and the employer, each contributing 1/3rd of the step 2 calculation above.