The end of September brings to an end the two key support solutions for both employees and the self-employed.
The final claims for the SEISS had to be made by the 30th of September. However, the biggest change is related to the conclusion of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme CJRS.
The final month for staff to be eligible to the scheme was September with the employer covering 20% of claims made. Any final claims for September therefore need to be made on or by the 14th of October. The scheme itself has supported over 11 million employees, paying out approximately £70bn in support. For many employers however there is still considered to be around one million employees who are still on the scheme at the end of September although the government have stated that there are a similar number of job vacancies available.
As such in these cases employers do need to consider from October what actions will be required for those continuing furlough affected staff.
Employers therefore have the option to:
- Bring employees back to work on the contract and terms they were on prior to a period of furlough
- Bring employees back under different terms and agreements which could incorporate a different role or working hours
- Terminate their employment and this obviously brings in the area of redundancy
As such for some, October could be a complexed month and we await feedback on the effects of the change.
