Originally written by Mike Tremeer on Small Business
The Covid-19 pandemic is having far-reaching consequences for businesses across the globe. Many have found that demand for their goods and services has fallen away drastically while others are prevented from operating due to government lockdowns. Other employers have been forced to consider redundancies in order to cut staff costs, but any small business based in the UK should give thought to other measures available before proceeding with redundancy as a last resort.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The newly announced Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme provides vital and unprecedented support to business to help pay their staff wages during the current crisis. The scheme offers employers reimbursements of up to 80 per cent of “furloughed workers” wage costs capped at £2,500 per month, in addition to other costs to employers. Furloughed workers are those who have no work to do, and they must not carry out any work while they are furloughed.
One of the key elements of the scheme is that it applies to those who would otherwise have been “laid-off”. For most employers the alternative to placing an employee on the furlough scheme would be to make their role redundant, and indeed the guidance from