Wage Support package
23 March, 2020
Good Morning,
You will no doubt be aware of the announcement on Friday that UK Government is preparing a wage support package which will pay 80% of salary for staff who are kept on by their employer who would otherwise be “furloughed”, covering wages of up to £2,500 a month per person.
This relates to gross pay, it will be backdated to the start of March and last for three months but could be extended if necessary and will be delivered by HMRC. It applies to any PAYE employer, large, small, charitable or non-profit.
The grant scheme also applies to workers who may have been laid off after February 28. An ex-employee would request their former employer to apply for a grant on their behalf.
Employers will need to apply to HMRC through an online portal and it is expected that the first payments will be made end of April. The portal doesn’t appear to be live at the moment, I expect that delivery mechanism to be sorted in the next couple of days.
The Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates has asked that we get in touch with companies and get some feedback:
- Do you welcome the announcement?
- Will you act upon it?
- Will it enable you to retain / re-employ people?
- Will it help them survive?
Full transcript of the Chancellors speech from Friday.
I would be most grateful if you can take some time to feedback to me on this matter [email protected]