[Updated] New Job Support Scheme - Key Points

The Government introduced the New Job Support Scheme (JSS) on 24th September to support viable jobs in businesses which are facing lower demand over the winter months due to COVID-19 after the closure of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on 31 October 2020.

On 22^nd October, the government announced changes to the JSS.

The JSS will open on 1 November 2020 and run for 6 months until April 2021.

Joanne Lightburn of Jones Cassidy Brett has provided a summary of the key points on the scheme, as amended.

The Key Changes are: 

• When originally announced, the JSS required employees to work a minimum of 33% of their normal hours. This has now been reduced to 20%, meaning that employees working as little as one day a week are now eligible for the scheme.
• Government contribution to wages for hours not worked has increased to 61.67% (with an increase in the original cap of £697.92 a month to now £1,541.75)
• The employer contribution to the ‘unworked’ hours has been significantly reduced from 33% to just 5%.

No changes have been made to the Expanded JSS for those businesses legally required to close.

Click here to view the update [PDF]