Business (coronavirus related)

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What a nice boss


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I have seen the update on the Coronavirus bill which was discussed yesterday. It shows self employed will get 80% of their 3 year average wage to a maximum of about £2900.

Sounds promising but not sure why it wasn't announced.

Assuming that's correct, it amounts to £55.77 a week! Could anyone live off that?

In Ireland they have a €203 (currently at £187.53) per week for 6 weeks and then follow-on explanations.

Maybe the UK plans weren't announced very loudly because the Chancellor was too ashamed to broadcast it! aheadbutt

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/be74d3-covid-19-pandemic-unemployment-payment/
 
Assuming that's correct, it amounts to £55.77 a week! Could anyone live off that?

In Ireland they have a €203 (currently at £187.53) per week for 6 weeks and then follow-on explanations.

Maybe the UK plans weren't announced very loudly because the Chancellor was too ashamed to broadcast it! aheadbutt

https://www.gov.ie/en/service/be74d3-covid-19-pandemic-unemployment-payment/
Sorry you have confused it. It's 80% of their monthly earnings. The most they will pay out is £2900odd a month.
 
I have seen the update on the Coronavirus bill which was discussed yesterday. It shows self employed will get 80% of their 3 year average wage to a maximum of about £2900.

Sounds promising but not sure why it wasn't announced.

Actually, the above mentions "... 80% of their 3 year average wage to a maximum of about £2900." There was no mention that this figure related to a monthly wage!

Sorry you have confused it. It's 80% of their monthly earnings. The most they will pay out is £2900odd a month.

At that rate it makes the average weekly hand-out of £669.23 - I could live off that and I can also understand why the Chancellor wouldn't want too many people applying for it! :laugh8:
 
Actually, the above mentions "... 80% of their 3 year average wage to a maximum of about £2900." There was no mention that this figure related to a monthly wage!



At that rate it makes the average weekly hand-out of £669.23 - I could live off that and I can also understand why the Chancellor wouldn't want too many people applying for it! :laugh8:


Sorry was typing on my phone. I have put the full policy in the other coronavirus thread. Not all self employed earn £2900 a month and their HMRC returns would back this up.
 
What a nice boss


As usual two sides to a story -


The boss of the Wetherspoon pub chain has said its staff can take jobs with supermarkets amid the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tim Martin told 40,000 workers in a video that they should feel free to take jobs at retailers such as Tesco while Wetherspoon pubs remain closed.

He said: “If you’re offered a job… if you think it’s a good idea, do it.”

The government has said it will pay 80% of salary for workers at firms such as Wetherspoon affected by Covid-19.

In the video, he called the government proposals “great, because we currently have no money coming in through the tills. That’s not something we had ever planned for.”

All of Wetherspoon's 850 UK pubs were closed over the weekend after the government introduced new measures to try to stop the spread of Covid-19.


However, Mr Martin cited concerns that there could be some delay to the payment of any wage subsidy.

In the video, he said he would therefore “completely understand” if workers did not want “to wait around”.

He added that any former workers for the pub chain would receive first priority on future applications to rejoin the company.

Mr Martin said that “almost all of our trade has now gone to supermarkets”, as demand for food surges as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

“We’ve had lots of calls from supermarkets, Tesco alone want to recruit more than 20,000 people - more than half the number of people who work at our pubs,” he added.

BBC news.
 
Perhaps someone can enlighten me?

Over the last few years a number of people have become "Self-Employed" simply because Employers didn't want to pay their NI Contributions, Pension Contributions etc. They were never "Self-Employed" really because some of them only ever worked for one Employer. (I'm given to understand, that some of these people even had Contracts that forbade them working for another Employer.)

This was condoned by the Government but it seems that now these people are being told to go on to Universal Credit if they have no work!

Also, what about the people who were working on a "Zero Hours Contract"? Again condoned by the Government but surely an Employer can't show a salary whereby the Government can hand over 80% of it. (We are back to the "Eighty percent of bugger all is bugger all." syndrome even if a salary can be produced.)

Finally, what about the people that formed their own Limited Companies? They weren't "Self-Employed" as such because they were employed by their own Limited Company.

Is there anyone out there who can answer these queries for me please? At the moment I'm confused but the "Self Employed" seem to be getting a rough deal.
As some one is self employed, an employer and a small business I am trying to work this all out myself.
As far as I can tell the self employed situation is not confirmed at this time and the measures mentioned are a proposal from the lib dems the only thing that is confirmed to help them are deferrals of VAT and income tax payments and it made simpler to go onto universal credit but it looks like further measures will be announced soon.
People on zero hours contract have the right to holiday pay based on the hours they have worked so I am guessing but cannot confirm they will be able to get 80% of the wage they have received but over what time scale it will be calculated who knows and an email from my accountant reads "We await further details on exactly how the scheme will operate in terms of part-time employees and those with reduced levels of work.". Also at the moment the employer has to set you up on a scheme that hasn't started yet and pay it from there pocket then reclaim it from the government in another way that doesn't yet exist. Also I don't think employers are obliged to do this so can just let people go (or even not pay them for not working) subject to there contracts and other existing law.
As for people who are employed by there own 1 man company to take your example you could get 80% of that 29.99 a week from the government.
The government has published this page COVID-19: support for businesses
 
The only down-side to this argument is that the Owner of Wetherspoons trousered an estimated £40 million in profits last year!

That is £1,000 for each employee, so on the face of is he could have helped out some of his staff ...

... assuming that he didn't spend it all on a yacht!
 
Here the full email from my accountant for anyone whos interested:

The Chancellor’s announcement on Friday night of a far-reaching package of measures allows businesses in this country to stand by their employees at a time of national emergency. Such direct action by Government to keep people in employment is a really good start. It should make a difference to how people feel and keep them working and spending. The real battle now is for public confidence: if we can sustain that, the economics will follow.

Much of the detail is still being worked on and we expect more information to follow (for example on the self-employed). As soon as we can, XXXX will provide you with more in-depth comments to help you navigate the support now on offer. Please do call us if you need any help and advice in this difficult time. We are here to help and whilst working conditions are continually evolving, we will be available. In the unlikely event that the office phone-line is unanswered, please use the XXXXX or XXXX e-mail and a member of the team will come back to you. In addition to this, we will constantly be updating our social pages on XXXXXX and twitter XXXXX to keep you updated with regulation and procedural changes during these unprecedented times. We urge you, if you are a social media user, to follow us during this time.

The current package of measures to support businesses includes:

a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
a Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) relief package for SMEs
a 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England
small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank
a new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans
the HMRC Time To Pay Scheme
self-employed help - details of which we hope will soon be available

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Under the new Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, government grants will cover 80% of the salary of PAYE employees who would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. The scheme, open to any employer in the country, will cover the cost of wages backdated to 1 March 2020 and will be open before the end of April. It will continue for at least three months and can include workers who were in employment on 28 February 2020. We await further details on exactly how the scheme will operate in terms of part-time employees and those with reduced levels of work.

To claim under the scheme employers will need to:

designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers’ and notify employees of this change. Changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation; and
submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal. HMRC will set out further details on the information required. However, we advise you proactively ensure your employees understand that this will take time to become live online.
HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. We understand that these grants will be available by the end of April 2020.
To qualify for the scheme the ‘furloughed worker’ should not undertake work for the employer whilst they are furloughed. We do not believe that this should stop anyone from assisting with other services for the community and the emergency services.

While HMRC is working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement, we understand existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to employers. Businesses that need short-term cash flow support, may benefit from the VAT deferral announced below and may also be eligible to apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan.

VAT and Income Tax payments

The next quarter of VAT payments will be deferred, meaning businesses will not need to make VAT payments until the end of June 2020. Businesses will then have until the end of the 2020-21 tax year to settle any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period.

The deferral applies automatically, and businesses do not need to apply for it. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.

Income Tax Self-Assessment payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021 for ‘self employed’ individuals. This is an automatic offer with no applications required. No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period.

Statutory Sick Pay relief package

If you're a director of a limited company with less than 250 employees, you can pay yourself two weeks of SSP if you need to self-isolate subject to meeting the minimum payroll requirement for SSP.
The government will refund £94 per week, maximum £188, to your company.
It will also refund SSP for staff of businesses with less than 250 employees for up to two weeks.

It is therefore incredibly important that you record details of staff who are not at work. We would recommend that you keep a record of the names and dates of staff who are home sick, staff who are self-isolating and staff that are having to be at home to look after their children, now the schools have closed.

12-month business rates holiday & cash grants

No rates payable for the 2020-2021 tax year for any business in the retail, hospitality or leisure sectors.
In those sectors, if your rateable value is between £15K and £51k, you'll also receive a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property.
Any business which gets small business rates relief, including those in the retail, hospitality or leisure sectors, will receive a cash grant of £10,000 (increased from £3,000 announced in the 11 March Budget).
The rates holiday and cash grants will be administered by local authorities and should be delivered automatically, without businesses needing to claim.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

These should be available from Monday 23 March and are delivered by lenders that partner with the British Business Bank, including all the major banks. The lender receives a guarantee of 80% of the loan amount from the government.
They are available for UK-based businesses with turnover of no more than £45 million and can provide for a facility up to £5 million. The borrower remains liable for 100% of the debt.
No interest will be charged for the first 12 months.

HMRC Time To Pay Scheme

HMRC’s Time to Pay scheme can enable firms and individuals in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 to delay payment of outstanding tax liabilities. HMRC’s dedicated Covid-19 helpline provides practical help and advice on XXXXXXX.

Self-employed

If you are not eligible for SSP – for example if you are self-employed or earning below the Lower Earnings Limit of £118 per week – and you have COVID-19 or are advised to stay at home, you can now more easily make a claim for Universal Credit or new style Employment and Support Allowance.

If you are eligible for new style Employment and Support Allowance, it will now be payable from day 1 of sickness, rather than day 8, if you have COVID-19 or are advised to stay at home.

If you are self-employed and out of work, or on a low income and affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19, you will be able to access the full range of the welfare system. You are able to claim Universal Credit, providing you meet the usual eligibility criteria.
 
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As for people who are employed by there own 1 man company to take your example you could get 80% of that 29.99 a week from the government.
The government has published this page COVID-19: support for businesses

Thanks for the info and the link.

As I've already pointed out, "Eighty percent of bugger all is bugger all." and it seems that a lot of Companies are just going to let their staff go; and not dip into their own funds whilst they wait for the Government sort things out.

I've just attempted to read the link supplied and they don't make it easy do they? I loved the point on Eligibility that states:

"You are eligible if your business:
  • pays tax to the UK government
  • has outstanding tax liabilities"
I always made damned sure that my Company never had any "outstanding tax liabilities" but as they don't put in an "either" / "or" qualification in front of the criteria so I wouldn't be 100% sure that my Company qualified!

Good luck! I think most Employees would listen (even if they didn't agree) to a realistic explanation of why an Employer is laying them off under the circumstances.

Good luck!

PS

Just read the letter from your Accountant and I am even more thankful that I am now retired!

My own Accountant was a true gentleman. I asked him "How much does one plus one equal" and he replied "How many do you want it to equal." so I hired him! athumb..
 
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Sorry Chippy, maybe I should have posted here.
Hancocks latest statement “only go to work if you can’t work from home” is a real kick in the balls to all manual labour.
Poor shout after his gaffer has already said “do not leave home unless absolutely essential “
Bloody typical
 
According to this report ...

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2020/03/...pressure-to-curb-construction-work-amid-coro/
"... But some builders and construction workers have said they feel "angry and unprotected" going to work, while others are under pressure from employers to go in."

The Construction Industry has the highest accident rate of all UK industries, so we had better listen when the workers in this industry say that they feel "unprotected" when they go to work!

Surely it's time to put people's health before business and stop all of the non-essential construction work! :mad::mad:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction.pdf
 
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