The ongoing changes to the the Job Support Scheme can be confusing for employers and employees. That’s why we have a short explanation about the expansion of the Job Support Scheme below, with some guidance notes too.
Expansion of Job Support Scheme
The government announced an expansion of the JSS, to provide temporary support to businesses whose premises have been legally required to close as a direct result of coronavirus restrictions. (Details are outlined in Job Support Scheme Expanded).
Businesses can apply for the JSS including the new expansion even if they haven’t previously used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). JSS is available for six months, from 1 November, with payment of grants in arrears from early December. The scheme will be reviewed in January.
Search ‘Job Support Scheme expanded to firms required to close due to COVID Restrictions’ and ‘Job Support Scheme factsheet’ on GOV.UK for more details. Further information will be published in the coming weeks.
Job Retention Bonus – Government Guidance now live
Guidance for the Job Retention Bonus is now available. It includes information about how you can check if your employees are eligible and when you can claim the bonus.
Businesses will be able to claim a one-off payment of £1,000 for every eligible employee furloughed and claimed for through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and kept continuously employed until at least 31 January 2021. You do not have to pay this money to your employee.
To be eligible, employees must earn at least £1,560 between 6 November 2020 and 5 February 2021 and have received earnings in the November, December and January tax months. Employees must also not be serving a contractual or statutory notice period for you on 31 January 2021.
You will be able to claim the bonus from 15 February until 31 March once you have submitted PAYE information for the period up to 5 February 2021. HMRC will let you know how you can make a claim when further guidance is published by the end of January.
You can still claim the Job Retention Bonus if you make a claim for the same employees through the Job Support Scheme, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria for both.
Further information can be found on GOV.UK by searching ‘Job Retention Bonus Guidance’.
What you need to do now
If you intend to claim the Job Retention Bonus, you must:
- keep your PAYE submissions up-to-date and on time, with Real Time Information (RTI) reporting for all employees, including reporting the leaving date for any employees that stop working for you in the month they leave or the next Full Payment Submission
- use the irregular payment pattern indicator in RTI for any employees not paid regularly
- provide any employee data for past CJRS claims that HMRC has requested
- make sure all your CJRS claims have been accurately submitted and you have told HMRC about any changes needed (for example if you have received too much or too little).
One final point we’d like to make is beware of Scams and here are some steps to take to protect you and your business.
Protect yourself from scams
HMRC remind us all to stay vigilant about scams, which may mimic government messages as a way of appearing authentic. Search ‘scams’ on GOV.UK for information on how to recognise genuine HMRC contact. You can also forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and texts to 60599.
They have provided further information on the support schemes available to help you through the pandemic:
- Job Support Scheme
- Expansion of Job Support Scheme
- Job Retention Bonus
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme.
If you have further questions please get in touch with a member of our team at info@ammu.uk