As you may know the Chancellor has announced a new scheme designed to help businesses affected by Covid-19 to retain their employees. Basic details of the scheme are as follows:

• it will come into force from 1st November 2020 and last for 6 months until April 2021
• all employers with a UK bank account and PAYE scheme can claim the grant; it is not necessary to have accessed the Job Retention (furlough) Scheme
• large businesses will need to meet a financial assessment test to show they have been adversely affected by Covid-19; it is not expected that large businesses using the scheme will be paying dividends or the like whilst accessing it
• the employer will pay its employees for time worked but 1/3 of hours not worked will be paid for by the government (up to a cap of £697.92 a month) with 1/3 being paid for by the employer thereby ensuring that employees receive at least 77% of their usual wages provided the cap isn't exceeded; it is not expected that employers will top up their employees' wage at their own expense
• to be eligible employees must be;
  • working at least 1/3 of their normal hours for the first 3 months of the scheme; after 3 months this threshold may be revised
  • on the employer's PAYE payroll on or before 23rd September 2020
• employees can go on and off the scheme and don't have to be working the same pattern each month but the minimum working period is 7 days
• an employee cannot be made redundant or put on notice of redundancy whilst their employer is claiming the grant for that employee
• claims can be made from December 2020  - after payment to the employee has been made and reported to HMRC via an RTI return 
• HMRC will check claims and may withhold payment or require re-payment for claims which are found to be fraudulent or incorrect
• employers must agree the new short-time working arrangements with their employees, amend employment contracts and notify the employees in writing; the agreement must be made available to HMRC if requested
• it is HMRC's intention to inform employees of full details of claims made