Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
UPDATED: The government will pay one-third of the wages of workers on the days they do not work through its new Jobs Support Scheme. Employers will pay the other third and the employee will take a one-third paycut on days not worked.
In effect, this means the government has only committed to covering one-fifth of the wages of small business workers who are working one-third of their normal hours. Small business owners will be expected to cover 55 per cent of wage costs overall on a five-day week, the government 22 per cent — which means the small business employee faces a 23 per cent overall from November 1.
The question remains whether small businesses will be prepared to dig into their pockets to keep workers “fully employed” – even if they are not at work for the majority of the time under the Jobs Support Scheme – or whether it’s easier just to put them on reduced hours.
Accountancy firm Kreston Reeves pointed out that a flaw in the scheme that would leave small businesses that choose to keep three part-time employees working one third of their normal hours facing significantly higher costs than if