The Chancellor has today (Oct 09) announced an expansion of the Job Support Scheme (JSS) to now businesses that have been forced to close due to Covid restrictions.
The scheme, which was announced at the end of September, pays up to 2/3 of an employee’s wages that have been lost.
The scheme will now be extended to cover the wages of any employee that has lost work due to local or national lockdown restrictions, for example if pubs were to shut altogether, the staff of said pub would be paid for the hours that they had lost.
Employers are not required to make up the remaining third of the employee's paycheque, they only need to pay NICS and pension contributions.
This announcement comes after several Mayors of city regions have rejected local lockdown measures when there was no support for the businesses that had shut.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:
“Throughout the crisis the driving force of our economic policy has not changed.
“I have always said that we will do whatever is necessary to protect jobs and livelihoods as the situation evolves.
“The expansion of the Job Support Scheme will provide a safety net for businesses across the UK who are required to temporarily close their doors, giving them the right support at the right time.”
