Chancellor announces the New Jobs Support Scheme

Yesterday the Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the introduction of the New Jobs Support Scheme to protect businesses and employees moving forward, when the furlough scheme comes to an end.

The aim of the New Jobs Support Scheme is to bring employees back to work, keep them in work and avoid redundancies.

Details of the Scheme:

The scheme will support ‘viable jobs’ by allowing business to put staff on shorter hours. The Government will then cover the wages of the remaining hours not worked.

Employees must work at least one third of their normal hours and be paid in full for these hours by their employer. The employer will then be entitled to receive two-thirds of their remaining pay, with the employer and the Government each paying half.

The Chancellor said that the scheme is targeted at firms that need it the most, and that all SMEs are eligible. Any larger businesses will need to prove a reduction in turnover during the crisis to access the scheme.

This scheme is available to all businesses across the UK and will run for 6 months, starting in November.

Businesses who did not use the furlough scheme can access the new job support scheme.

He also confirmed that business can benefit from the job retention bonus for employees brought off furlough at the end of October and access the New job support scheme.

The Chancellor also confirmed that he will be extending the existing Self Employment Income Support Scheme under similar terms and conditions of the new Jobs Support Scheme. No further details on this were provided.