Yesterday Rishi Sunak announced a new Job Support Scheme which will kick in from 1st November after the end of the current furlough scheme on 31st October 2020.

The Job Support Scheme is designed to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to Covid-19, to help keep their employees attached to the workforce.

The company will continue to pay its employee for time worked, but the burden of hours not worked will be split between the employer and the Government (through wage support) and the employee (through a wage reduction), and the employee will keep their job.

The Government is aiming to target support on those businesses that
need it most: focusing on those that are being impacted by Coronavirus and who can support their employees doing some work, but that need more time for demand to recover.

The Government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap, with the
employer also contributing a third. This will ensure employees earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages, where the Government contribution has not been capped.

It is worth noting that employers using the Job Support Scheme will also be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus if they meet the eligibility criteria.

The scheme will open on 1 November 2020 and run for 6 months, until April 2021.

Further guidance will be published shortly. But neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Large businesses will have to meet a financial assessment test, so the scheme is only available to those whose turnover is lower now than before experiencing difficulties from Covid-19.

There will be no financial assessment test for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs).