‘We help our members grow through a variety of networking opportunities.’

Posted on: Updated on:

BUSINESS UPDATE: Monday 2nd November 2020

On Saturday, the Prime Minister announced that the Furlough Scheme will be extended for a month. This also applies to Northern Ireland.

There are some important changes to the current scheme which was scheduled to end on 31st October. Neither the Employer or the Employee has to have previously used the scheme. 

Any employee on your payroll on 30th Oct at 23:59 is eligible to be furloughed. Support per employee has increased from 60% in Oct to 80% for the next period.  

I have set out below how the Furlough scheme will work.

Finally, further business updates will follow over the next week and keep up to date by following our social media channels.

Join Our Three New Facebook Groups:

1. SHOP NEWRY -JOIN GROUP HERE.
2. WORK NEWRY – JOIN GROUP HERE.
3. TRADE NEWRY – JOIN GROUP HERE.

Colm Shannon
Chief Executive Officer
Newry Chamber of Commerce & Trade

FURLOUGH SCHEME EXTENDED FOR ONE MONTH

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) – also known as the Furlough Scheme, will remain open until Dec 2020, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are eligible for the extended Job Retention Scheme, which will continue for a further month.

Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part-time basis or furlough them full-time and will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim, accounts for 5% of total employment costs.

The Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sun 1st Nov 2020, has been postponed until the Furlough Scheme ends.

SCHEME DETAILS:

  • This extended Job Retention Scheme will operate as the previous scheme did, with businesses being paid upfront to cover wages costs. There will be a short period when HMRC need to change the legal terms of the scheme and update the system. Businesses will be paid in arrears for that period.
  • The CJRS is being extended until Dec 2020. The level of the grant will mirror levels available under the CJRS in August, so the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 and employers will pay employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pension contributions only for the hours the employee does not work.
  • As under the current CJRS, flexible furloughing will be allowed in addition to full-time furloughing.
  • Further details, including how to claim this extended support through an updated claims service, will be provided shortly.
  • The Job Support Scheme will be introduced following the end of the CJRS.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Employers

  • All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.
  • The government expects that publicly funded organisations will not use the scheme, as has already been the case for CJRS, but partially publicly funded organisations may be eligible where their private revenues have been disrupted. All other eligibility requirements apply to these employers.

Employees

  • To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on/before 30th Oct 2020.
    *As under the current CJRS rules:
  • Employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.
  • Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.
  • When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.
  • Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.
  • For worked hours, employees will be paid by their employer subject to their employment contract and employers will be responsible for paying the tax and NICs due on those amounts.

SUPPORT PROVIDED & EMPLOYER COSTS:

  • For hours not worked by the employee, the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. The grant must be paid to the employee in full.
  • Employers will pay employer NICs and pension contributions, and should continue to pay the employee for hours worked in the normal way.
  • As with the current CJRS, employers are still able to choose to top up employee wages above the scheme grant at their own expense if they wish.
  • The Government will confirm shortly when claims can first be made in respect of employee wage costs during November, but there will be no gap in eligibility for support between the previously announced end-date of CJRS and this extension.

BUSINESS SUPPORT GRANTS

The Prime Minister also announced business grants payable to businesses in England.

The NI Executive had already announced grants for businesses affected by the restrictions introduced here.

These grants are:

LOCALISED RESTRICIONS SUPPORT SCHEME

The Localised Restrictions Support Scheme provides financial support to businesses which have been required to close or severely limit operations at their premises under the Health Protection Regulations that have been put in place by the NI Executive.

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFO.

RESTRICIONS BUSINESS SUPPORT SCHEME

The COVID-19 Restrictions Business Support Scheme will support those businesses directly impacted by the latest Health Protection Regulations, which came into force on 16th Oct 2020.

The COVID-19 Restrictions Business Support Scheme is administered by Invest NI on behalf of the Department for the Economy (DfE).

WHAT IS AVAILABLE?

The COVID-19 Restrictions Business Support Scheme (CRBSS) will operate in two parts.

CLICK HERE FOR FURTHER INFO.