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Coronavirus: For businesses to support employees

Duncan & Toplis | 4 August 2020

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is probably one of the most important and successful steps that the Government has taken to support businesses and their employees in this very challenging environment.

Unlike schemes such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which has been held up by problems in eligibility criteria and administration, CJRS is being used to support an estimated 9 million workers across the country.

When companies are facing the threat of rising costs and significantly reduced income, it can be an agonising, and in many cases inevitable, decision to make employees redundant in order to save the company.

Whilst the CJRS is the most significant support measure available to businesses in relation to their employees, it is not the only one and below we have outlined the additional assistance available.

£20 million to improve small business leadership and problem-solving skills in the wake of coronavirus

Two new leadership programmes have been launched to help small business leaders grow their companies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic:

The Small Business Leadership Programme will focus on strengthening decision-makers’ leadership skills, so they are able to address management challenges, some of which, such as remote working, have arisen from coronavirus. You can register for this programme here.

The Peer Networks Programme will focus on helping business owners improve their problem-solving skills, through a series of guided exercises. You can register for this programme here.

Businesses paying sick pay to employees:

Legislation has been brought forward to allow small and medium-sized businesses and employers to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19.

This refund will cover up to two weeks’ SSP per eligible employee who has been off work because of COVID-19.

Employers will be able to reclaim expenditure for any employee who has claimed SSP (according to the new eligibility criteria) as a result of COVID-19.

Employers should maintain records of employee absences and payments of SSP, but employees will not need to provide a GP fit note.

If evidence is required by an employer, those with symptoms of coronavirus can get an isolation note from NHS 111 online and those who live with someone that has symptoms can get a note from the NHS website.

The reimbursement of SSP is expected to be net of tax. Business will therefore still pay the tax cost of paying statutory sick pay.

Eligibility

Your business must be UK based and your business is small or medium-sized and employs fewer than 250 employees as of 28 February 2020.

The eligible period for the scheme will commence the day after the regulations on the extension of Statutory Sick Pay to those staying at home comes into force.

How to access

This scheme opened for applications on 26 May 2020.

Support for those ineligible for Statutory Sick Pay:

New style Employment and Support Allowance will be payable for people directly affected by COVID-19 or self-isolating according to government advice from the first day of sickness, rather than the eighth day.

People will be able to claim Universal Credit and access advance payments where they are directly affected by COVID-19 (or self-isolating), without the current requirement to attend a job centre.

Rules on carrying over annual leave to be relaxed:

The government have amended regulations to allow workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement due to COVID-19 to carry it over into the next two leave years to ensure they don't lose their leave entitlements.

The regulations will allow up to four weeks of unused leave to be carried into the next two leave years, easing the requirements on business to ensure that workers take the statutory amount of annual leave in any one year. This will mean people can continue working in the national effort against the coronavirus without losing out on annual leave entitlement.

The changes will also ensure all employers affected by COVID-19 have the flexibility to allow workers to carry over leave at a time when granting annual leave could leave them short-staffed in some of Britain’s key industries, such as food and healthcare.

The changes will amend the Working Time Regulations, which apply to almost all workers, including agency workers, those who work irregular hours, and workers on zero-hours contracts.

HMRC issue a stern warning to companies abusing government assistance programmes:

HMRC chief Jim Harra has urged furloughed employees to report firms that are still asking them to work. “Depending on the nature of the behaviour, if it amounted to knowingly trying to defraud us then we could take criminal action against employers.”

If you would like more information, please visit our COVID-19 Knowledgebase

 

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