CIPP Quick Poll results: 56% of businesses not intending to use the Job Support Scheme
20 October 2020
As the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) closes at the end of October 2020, and the Job Support Scheme (JSS) is introduced from 1 November 2020, the CIPP’s Policy and research team wanted to assess whether many businesses are intending to utilise the new scheme to support them through what will unfortunately inevitably be a difficult Winter.
The JSS offers a different level of support to the CJRS and aims to protect ‘viable employment’. One of the key eligibility criteria means that employees will need to be working at least a third of their ‘usual hours’ to qualify for the scheme. The Government will then pay grants equating to a third of the amount relating to the ‘usual hours’ not worked, up to a maximum of £697.92 per month, the employer is required to pay another third, and the employee will see a reduction in their pay of the remaining third.
This is not to be confused with the recently announced extension to the JSS, which will be provided to those businesses forced to close due to local lockdown restrictions. In these scenarios, the Government will pay grants equivalent to two-thirds of employee wages, up to a cap of £2,100 per month, with no requirement for the member of staff to work any of their hours.
On the CIPP’s News Online page, the team posted the question:
“Following on from announcements relating to the new Job Support Scheme, are you intending to use it, and if so, has this affected your imminent employment plans?”
The company is not intending to use the Job Support Scheme: 56%
No: 26%
Yes, this has reduced the number of imminent redundancies: 10%
The notification relating to the scheme was after the collective consultation deadline, so we are not using the scheme: 5%
I have not heard of the Job Support Scheme: 3%
The results of the Quick Poll seem to indicate that there is not much appetite for the JSS, with 56% of respondents confirming that their company has no plans to utilise the scheme. Businesses that are planning to claim under the JSS have stated that the introduction of the scheme has had no impact on their imminent employment plans, collecting 26% of responses. Conversely, 10% of those answering the Quick Poll declared that their company will be accessing the scheme, and that this has directly reduced the number of imminent redundancies that will be made.
5% of answers highlighted the fact that the announcement relating to the scheme came after the collective consultation deadline for businesses having to make over 100 redundancies. The Winter Economy Plan, which unveiled the new support scheme was delivered on 24 September, but the deadline for consultations would have been in mid-September. Additionally, 3% of those who responded to the poll admitted that they had not heard of the Job Support Scheme at all.
It will be interesting to see, once the CJRS closes, how many businesses do make use of the JSS, and also how many companies that are required to shut down make claims under the extended JSS. At the time of writing, we await further guidance on both the JSS and its extension, but as soon as anything is published, we will notify via News Online and social media.
The information in this article is accurate at the time of publication. For all the latest information, news and resources on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting payroll professions, visit our Coronavirus hub.