The Prime Minister yesterday announced a new three tier system of COVID-19 restrictions – Tier 1- Medium; Tier 2 – High and Tier 3 – Very High.
- Covering most of England, this Tier consists of the ‘rule of six’ and an ongoing 10pm curfew for hospitality businesses
- Covers most areas currently under ‘local restrictions’ – no household mixing indoors and the rule of 6 applied to outdoor settings
- No social mixing indoors or outdoors (including private gardens); the closure of pubs and bars
At the time of writing (12th October); East and West Cheshire (including Chester) were placed in Tier 2 – ‘High’; meaning no household mixing indoors and the rule of 6 applied outdoors. Worryingly though, whilst Shropshire remains Tier 1; surrounding areas such as Wrexham already has stringent local restrictions in place; and next door to us is Liverpool at Tier 3 – the highest…
It’s worth bookmarking ‘Check the local COVID alert’ government webpage to keep abreast of the changes…
What about staff costs if we’ve moved to Tier 2 (or even Tier 3)?
If the area is moved to a higher tier AND your business is ‘legally’ required to close, then the expanded ‘Job Support Scheme’ will come into effect. As always, the guidance issued today will be underpinned by HMRC details to be provided ‘in due course’; but here’s what we do know:
- It takes effect from the 1st November and will be available for 6 months; with a review in January 2021
- Businesses ‘legally’ required to close before the 1st November have (for the most part) been able to avail of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – ‘Furlough’
- To be eligible, employees must be employed and an Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 23 September. The claim service will be available from early December.
- Under the scheme, employees will need to be furloughed for a minimum of seven consecutive days at any given time and the payments to employers will be made monthly in arrears.
- Payments will be 2/3rds of an employees salary up to a maximum of £2,100 per month
- Employers will have to pay National insurance and pension contributions, but will not have to contribute to wages
- The government is now making this scheme more generous so that businesses receive up to £3,000 per month, rather than up to £1,500 per three weeks, and they are eligible for payment sooner, after only two weeks of closure; rather than three.
- And interestingly – using this scheme doesn’t make you ineligible to receive the £1000 bonus for bringing someone back from Furlough (that is due in January)…
Local Restrictions Support Grants will also come into force, but these are based on rateable values.. Local Councils are being given discretion to consider funding businesses that don’t pay business rates, but are required to close.
Things can change quickly and as always, we’ll try to keep you updated. In the meantime, your staff will be as worried as you are about their jobs and the possible impact of COVID-19 on their health and that of their families. Please do contact us if there is any support or guidance we can provide – we’re here to help.
