Job support scheme

JSS new changes announced

The job support scheme was due to change from the 1st November 2020 to a less attractive scheme from the two previous support schemes for employees. However, due to the worsening pandemic conditions and the introduction of a Tier system for local authorities the scheme has now changed again.

What are the changes

It’s just been announced that employers will be expected to pay 5% of the cost of unworked hours under the Job Support Scheme (JSS) instead of the 33% originally communicated.

When originally announced, the JSS required employers to pay one third of their employees’ wages for hours not worked. Employees were required to be working 33% of their normal hours. But today’s announcement reduces the employer’s contribution to those unworked hours to 5% and cuts the minimum hours requirement to 20%. This means that staff working just one day per week will be eligible.

We will come back and update this page with a worked example on how the payroll employee costs are calculated for employers operating payroll. Any  additional government guidance on the mechanics of the scheme changes will be updated on this page.