26th October 2020
The UK Government has now published further details of the Job Support Scheme, which will open on 1 November and run until 30 April 2021. Full details of the scheme and eligibility criteria can be viewed on GOV.UK, and we have summarised the key details below.
JSS Open vs. JSS Closed
- Unlike the previous Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Job Support Scheme will operate in two different ways depending on whether employers have been legally required to close their premises or not.
- For JSS Closed (premises required to close), each employee who cannot work will receive two thirds of their pay, fully funded by Government, to a maximum of £2,083.33 per month
- For JSS Open (where premises remain open but demand is lowered), employees claimed through the scheme will need to work a minimum of 20% of their usual hours. They will receive 66.67% of their pay for hours not worked, with the employer contributing 5% and Government 61.67% (to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month).
Eligibility Criteria
For both JSS Open and JSS Closed, the following criteria will need to be met:
- Employer enrolled for PAYE online and has a UK, Channel Island, or Isle of Man bank account
- Organisations with staff costs that are fully publicly funded should not use the scheme
- Employees must have been in employment on 23 September 2020 – including those who ceased employment after this date and were rehired
- Individuals who are treated as employees for Income Tax purposes are employees for the purpose of this scheme – including zero-hours contracts and agency workers
- Employees do not need to have been furloughed under CJRS to be eligible for this scheme
For JSS Open, the following criteria also need to be met:
- some, or all, employees are working reduced hours – employees must still be working for at least 20% of their usual hours
- an employer with 250 or more employees on 23 September 2020 has undertaken a Financial Impact Test
- employers must have reached written agreement with their employee (or reached written collective agreement with a trade union where the relevant terms are determined by collective agreement) that they have been offered a temporary working agreement
For JSS Closed, the following criteria also need to be met:
- employees primary work place is at the premises that have been legally required to close as a direct result of coronavirus restrictions
- employers have instructed the employee to cease work for a minimum period of at least 7 consecutive calendar days
Note that these are not the full eligibility criteria and that more details will be made available on the official UK Government website in coming days.
How to Claim / Other Support
Employers should prepare now to make a claim from 8 December 2020, covering salary for pay periods ending and paid in November. Indicative calculations to help employers prepare a claim are available.
Employers claiming JSS may still claim the Job Retention Bonus, and grants claimed under JSS can be used to help meet the Lower Earnings Limit of this scheme.
Where an employee’s pay period includes eligible amounts under CJRS until 31 October and JSS from 1 November, the amounts to be claimed for each scheme should be calculated separately. No amount of gross pay should be included in both schemes.
See the Covid-19 support updates pages for more details or simply get in touch with any questions.
