A U-turn for furlough

On the 29th October we held a webinar on the new Job Support Scheme due to launch on 1st November 2020, yet a few days later a complete U-turn had been made.

Businesses can now continue to use the furlough scheme until Spring 2021 with more generous rulings:

• Employees placed on furlough will receive 80% of their pay covered by the government 
• The employer will only be asked to cover the employers pension and national insurance contributions
• Employees eligibility has been extended to include those on the payroll as of the 30th October 2020
• Employees don’t have to have been furloughed previously

The Job support Scheme will commence following the end of lockdown and the extended furlough scheme (CJRS).

Here are some facts you may not know regarding the job support scheme:

Some can claim both Closed and Open JSS:  “An employer can claim the JSS Open and JSS Closed grant at the same time for different employees. An employer cannot claim for a single employee under both schemes at the same time.”

Scenario: A public house who can only operate their restaurant side of the business therefore could potentially claim open for the restaurant staff and closed for bar staff.

Partially funded organisations can still claim JSS:  “Organisations can use the scheme if they are not fully funded by public grants, for the proportion of their revenue disrupted due to coronavirus.”

Scenario: A nursery who has a mixture of private and funded children will be able to claim for the private element of the business.

Employers do not need to have claimed the furlough scheme for employees to qualify for JSS.

• To read this feature in full and access further Lancashire business news, advice and analysis subscribe to Lancashire Business View magazine or join the LBV Hub from just £2.50 per month. Click here to subscribe now.