You will have heard Boris Johnson mention ‘furlough’ when he spoke on Saturday night.
Some guidance on the extension was issued straight away. However, that guidance is far from complete, and many questions need answering before we can advise with any level of certainty.
Here’s what we do know:
The JRS has been extended for a month to 30 November 2020. It’s not clear yet whether it will continue to run on until 2 December, which is the date when the new national restrictions in England are due to end.
For an employee to be eligible, they need to have been on a payroll run before 23:59hrs on 30 October 2020.
It will work as the JRS did in August 2020. Employees will continue to receive 80% of their usual pay for hours not worked, up to a maximum cap of £2,500, and you will retain the flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part-time basis (flexible furlough) or furlough them full time (full furlough). The government will pay the 80% and you will only be asked to cover employers’ NI and pension contributions for furloughed hours. You must also continue to pay the employee for any hours worked in the normal way.
The commencement of the Job Support Scheme (JSS), which comprises JSS Open (for open business premises) and JSS Closed (for closed business premises), has been postponed until the JRS ends. The JSS will then be introduced following the end of the JRS.
Mortgage holidays will continue until the end of November 2020.
Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following:
- For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants will be available up to £1,334 per month or £667 per two weeks
- For properties with a rateable value of between £15k and £51k, grants will be available up to £2,000 per month or £1,000 per two weeks
- For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over, grants will be available up to £3,000 per month or £1,500 per two weeks
There doesn’t appear to be any changes to the self-employed grants since our last update. Firstly, 40% of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits from 1 November 2020 until 31 January 2021 and capped at £3,750 in total. A second grant will then cover the three-month period from 1 February 2021 until 30 April 2021. The Government will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.
We will provide an update as soon as we know more.
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Stay safe and well
The Clear Vision Team