Following the Chancellor’s lunchtime announcement, here’s a summary of a few of the new schemes announced today:
Job Retention Bonus
If you continue to stand by your employees, then the Government will stand by you. That’s the clear
message today as Rishi Sunak announces a £1k bonus in January for every furloughed member of staff you bring back to work. In order to claim this, the returning staff member must earn at least £525 per month in November, December and January.
This is a big announcement for us as we’ve claimed in excess of £1.4million furlough grants for our clients so far. We understand the impact this pandemic has had on cash flow and will do everything we can to claim the bonus for all eligible staff.
VAT Cut and ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ Scheme
Hospitality and tourism sectors have been badly hit due the pandemic; today a temporary cut has been
announced, slashing VAT from 20% to 5% until 12th January 2021. Coupled with this, a new discount scheme has been announced to restore the public’s confidence in eating out. The Government have announced that they will underwrite a 50% discount for meals eaten within pubs and restaurants on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday throughout August.
Kickstart Scheme
In order to reduce the growing rate of unemployment, the Government today confirmed additional funding for apprenticeships, traineeships and those at risk of long-term unemployment.
We pride ourselves on advising our clients to not only survive, but to thrive. We see this as a great opportunity to think about the long-term benefits this can bring to your business. With the flexible furlough scheme in place to support those who may not be able to work due to childcare or health, some businesses may be short of resource. This is a great opportunity to consider taking on an apprentice or trainee to cover the resource shortage whilst being trained by those on flexible furlough. Simultaneously, ambitious businesses will then be able to upskill workers on flexible furlough using the online training provision so they can return on even higher skilled jobs.