Thank you for taking the time to contact me about the Job Support Scheme.
I welcome the introduction of the Job Support Scheme from 1 November 2020, which will protect jobs over the coming winter months. The Job Support Scheme targets support on businesses who can support employees doing some work during a period of depressed demand.
The Scheme will allow employees to work a minimum of 33% of their usual hours, and for every hour not worked the employer and the government will each pay one third of an employee’s usual pay, with the government contribution will be capped at £697.92 per month. With employees receiving at least 77% of their pay, the introduction of the Scheme will offer vital protection to viable jobs over the winter.
The scheme is rightly open to all Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), and any large business will be required to demonstrate that they have been adversely affected by COVID-19. I have spoken with colleagues at the Treasury who expect that large employers will not be making capital distributions such as dividends while using the scheme.
It is right that businesses are able to claim the Job Retention Bonus as well as the JSS so long as they meet the eligibility. The £9 billion Jobs Retention Bonus Scheme entails one-off payments of £1,000 to businesses for every employee who was furloughed previously and who is successfully kept on continuously until January.
