Furlough Scheme Extended
Breaking news, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has just announced that the Furlough scheme will be extended until the end of March 2021, with the Government paying up to 80% of wages. He says the policy will be reviewed in January “to decide whether economic circumstances are improving enough to ask employers to contribute more”. This means the incentive of the Job Retention bonus falls away.
The Chancellor has also said that support for the self-employed will double to 80% of average earnings in the previous year, up to a maximum of £7,500.
No doubt further details will be published in due course, but this is inevitably good news for many employers.
Attending work in Lockdown v.2
In addition, the new Regulations governing lockdown arrangements in England have been published.
Click here to read the full guidance.
Key points to note are as follows:
- People are not permitted to leave their homes ‘without reasonable excuse’ subject to a list of exemptions. One exemption permits people to leave their homes for work where it is ‘reasonably necessary’ for them to do so and where it is not ’reasonably possible’ for them to work from home. This wording is arguably narrower than the guidance (link below) which states that people who can work ‘effectively’ from home must do so.
Full guidance from Gov.uk is available here.
- Employers should carefully consider which employees may attend their place of work with the Regulations in mind. With some roles it will be obvious if the Regulations are met. However, in other instances, for example with office-based work, the decision-making process will need to be done on an individual basis and record kept as to the outcome. There are criminal sanctions for corporates and officers for non-compliance so you must to be able to demonstrate your reasons.
- Individuals who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable should work from home during the lockdown period. If this is not possible, they should stay at home and should not attend work. Subject to eligibility criteria, organisations can consider furloughing those staff.
Full guidance from Gov.uk is available here.
Further Information
As with our other updates, this is only intended to be a summary and not specific legal advice. If you need any help or would like further information about how we can support your business, or advice generally about managing your workforce during these unprecedented times, please do not hesitate to contact the Employment Team.
Contact Us
Selene Holden (seleneholden@greene-greene.com | 01284 717436)
Greg Jones (gregjones@greene-greene.com | 01284 717446)
Angharad Ellis Owen (aeo@greene-greene.com | 01284 717453).
For more information on the services offered by Greene & Greene Solicitors please visit greene-greene.com and follow on Twitter @GreeneGreeneLaw.
