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March/April Issue 60 - Flipbook - Page 8


NEWS
CORONAVIRUS-JOB SUPPORT SCHEME FAQS
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
(CJRS) is to end 31st October 2020
and in recognising the ongoing
impact Covid -19 is having on
businesses, the Government
announced the launch of the Job
Support Scheme (JSS) to take affect
from 1st November 2020 which is to
last for 6 months.
The JSS applies to current staff
whether previously been on furlough or
not and requires them to be retained on
shorter hours by agreement.
The criteria for this scheme significantly
differs from the Coronavirus Job
Retention Scheme (CJRS) and on
22nd October 2020. The government
announced a new JSS Open and JSS
Closed schemes.
JSS Open will help reduce the financial
cost to the employer in employing
employees who would otherwise
be at risk of redundancies and thus
increasing the cost to the government.
It is aimed at the protection of viable
jobs in businesses who can operate
safely but are facing lower demand
over the winter period due to Covid 19
thus to avoid mass redundancies.
JSS Closed will apply where the
employer has been legally required to
closer the premises as a direct result of
coronavirus restrictions set by one of or
more of the four UK government.
Full details of the JSS are available on
the GOV UK website at https://www.
gov.uk/government/publications/thejob-support-scheme/the-job-supportscheme.
*Please read these FAQs in
conjunction with the official guidance
for employers and employees. The
following material is provided only as a
guide and is not legal advice. You are
strongly advised to seek advice from
a qualified legal practitioner regarding
your individual circumstances.
You can access support through email
hello@questcover.com or Phone:
01162 437615
08
If your business needs short term
cash flow support, the government
have introduced financial support
schemes. Full details are available on
the Gov UK website - https://www.gov.
uk/government/collections/financialsupport-for-businesses-duringcoronavirus-covid-19
1. KEY DATES
The JSS starts on 1st November
2020 and will run for a 6-month period
ending at the end of April 2021. It
covers all home nations of the UK.
The JSS will be reviewed at the end of
January 2021.
2. ELIGIBILITY FOR COMPANIES
All UK SME’s can apply for the JSS
grant; they must have a UK, Channel
Island or Isle of Man bank account and
a UK PAYE scheme.
Neither the employer nor employee
had to have used the CJRS previously,
i.e. – the ‘furlough scheme’.
Larger companies (more than 250
employees in one legal entity) may
be eligible for JSS grant following
a financial impact test to show their
turnover has stayed level or lower now
due to Covid 19. Full details of the
financial impact test is available on the
GOV UK website.
3. KEY CRITERIA
Employees must be on the employers
PAYE payroll between 6th April 2020
and by 23.59 hours on 23rd September
2020. This means the employer must
have made a real time in-formation
(RTI) submission to HMRC on or
before 23rd September 2020.
As the JSS involves a reduction in
the employees contracted hours of
work, employees must agree with their
employer or trade union to be placed
on the JSS via a written agreement. A
record of this written agreement must
be kept by employer.
As per Coronavirus Job Retention
Scheme (CJRS), fully publicly funded
organisations are not expected to use
JSS; how-ever partially publicly funded
organisations are eligible where their
private revenue is affected by Covid 19. The agreement must be available for
HMRC to view should they request this
There is no financial assessment test
for SME’s. An SME is an employer
The JSS is open to all; not just for
who employs less than 250 employees someone who has been a furlough
across its legal entity on 23rd
worker. This includes staff on variable
September 2020.
or zero-hour contracts or agency
workers.