Further changes to the Job Support Scheme

This afternoon the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced changes to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) in the commons.

Here is the key information that we know so far, as further details are announced, we will of course update you.

• Before today, the rules of the JSS stated that employees on the scheme have to work a minimum of 33% of their hours to be eligible, and businesses must contribute a third of wages. The government will now pay 62% of employee wages if they’re enrolled on the scheme, while businesses will pay just 5%.
• The Chancellor has announced additional support for those businesses that haven’t been forced to close due to the pandemic but who are severely affected by those industries that are.
• Instead of a minimum requirement of paying 55% of wages for a third of hours, as announced last month at the launch of the Winter Economic Plan, employers will have to pay for a minimum of 20% of usual hours worked, and 5% of hours not worked. This more than doubles the maximum payment to £1,541.75. In the most generous case, the taxpayer will now go from funding 22% of wages to just under half.
• The scheme will, as before, be open to all small businesses and larger businesses that can show an impact on revenues.
• Business grants are also to be expanded to cover businesses in particularly affected sectors in high-alert level areas, helping them stay afloat and protecting jobs.
• The changes to the JSS mean that employers are still obliged to establish whether they can continue to pay just over a fifth of usual employees for workers they wish to keep on.
• Grants for self-employed workers will also double to cover 40% of previous earnings with a maximum grant now of £3,750 a month.

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