New Job Support Scheme for businesses & employees

A new Job Support Scheme will be introduced by the government from the 1^st of‌‌ November aimed at protecting jobs within businesses which face lower demand over the winter months due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

How the new Job Support Scheme will work

Under the scheme, which will run for six months, the government will contribute towards the wages of employees who are working fewer than normal hours due to decreased demand.

Employers will continue to pay the wages for the hours staff work. For the hours not worked, the government and the employer will each pay one third of their usual wages (capped at £697.92 per month). Employers will need to meet their share of the pay for unworked hours, and all employer National Insurance contributions and statutory pension contributions, from their own funds. This means that employees will receive at least two thirds of their usual wages for the hours not worked.

To be eligible, employees must:

be registered on PAYE payroll on or before the 23^rd of September 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee must have been made to HMRC on or before the 23^rd of September 2020
work at least 33% of their usual hours. The government will consider whether to increase this minimum hours threshold after the first three months of the scheme.

Further eligibility criteria is available on GOV‌.UK by searching ‘Job Support Scheme factsheet’.

The new Job Support Scheme will be open to employers across the UK even if they have not previously applied under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which ends on the 3‌1^st of ‌‌ ‌‌October 2020.

The new Job Support Scheme will start from the 1^st of‌‌ November 2020 and employers will be able to claim in December. Grants will be paid on a monthly basis.

The scheme will operate in addition to the Job Retention Bonus. Businesses can benefit from both schemes in order to help protect viable jobs.

More information

For information on what is covered by the grant, which employers and employees are eligible, and how to claim, search ‘Job Support Scheme factsheet’ on GOV‌.UK.