Amendment to the Job Support Scheme

HM Treasury has today announced that the Government contribution to employers’ wage costs under the Job Support Scheme (“JSS”) for open businesses will be increased, and the minimum percentage of normal hours that must be worked by an employee under the scheme will be reduced.

Employers will be required to pay not less than 5% of the cost of unworked hours, capped at £125.00 per month, instead of the 33% (uncapped) originally announced; and the minimum hours requirement is to be 20% of the norm, instead of 33%. The requirement for employers to pay all employer’s national insurance contributions and auto-enrolment pension contributions is to remain.

The government will now provide 61.67% of wages for hours not worked, up to a cap of £1541.75 per month - more than doubling the maximum payment of £697.92 under the rules as originally announced.

The scheme for businesses legally required to close remains unchanged. For details of that scheme, click here

The JSS, which was originally announced on 24 September 2020, opens on 1 November 2020 and is intended to run for six months.

The government’s full announcement can be accessed here and its modified factsheet for the ‘open’ JSS is here