JSS V3 FAQs - please add anything I have missed

JSS V3 FAQs

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How long will the scheme run for?

The JSS scheme will start 1 November and run to 30th April 2021.  It will however be reviewed in January

When can we claim?

Claims will be made from 8 December 2020

Who is eligible to claim?

Any employer facing decreased demand, and some, or all, of their employees are working reduced hours - employees must still be working for at least 20% of their usual hours.

This applies to your business no matter what Tier you are in.

Which employees can be claimed for?

Employers can only claim for employees that were in their employment on 23 September 2020. If employees ceased employment after 23 of September 2020 and were subsequently rehired, then employers can claim for them.

Employees can be on any type of contract, including zero hours or temporary contracts.

Employees do not need to have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to be eligible for the Job Support Scheme.

How much does the employer have to pay?

Employers will be able to top up employee wages above the level of minimum contributions at their own expense if they wish.

The employer must pay for working hours and at least minimum wage rates must be paid for all hours worked or treated as worked.

The Job Support Scheme grant will not cover National Insurance contributions (NICs) or pension contributions. These contributions remain payable by the employer.

The employer will pay 5% of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £125 per month, with the discretion to pay more than this if they wish. 

How much will the grant be?

The government will pay 61.67%, of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month.

What do we have to do?

To be eligible for the grant, employers must have reached written agreement with their employee that they have been offered a temporary working agreement. The agreement must be available for view by HMRC on request.

This temporary working agreement must cover at least seven consecutive days.

Employers should discuss with their staff and make any changes to their employment contract by written agreement. When employers are making decisions, including deciding to whom they should offer reduced hours, equality and discrimination laws will apply in the usual way.

How do we work out the reference salary?

For employees who are paid a fixed salary, the Reference Salary is the greater of:

the wages payable to the employee in the last pay period ending on or before 23 September 2020

the wages payable to the employee in the last pay period ending on or before 19 March 2020, this may be the same salary calculated under the CJRS scheme

For employees whose pay is variable the Reference Salary is the greater of:

the wages earned in the same calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020

the average wages payable in the tax year 2019 to 2020

the average wages payable from 1 February 2020 (or the employee’s start date if later) until 23 September 2020

How do we work out the “Usual Hours”?

For employees contracted for a fixed number of hours and whose pay does not vary according to the number of hours they work, usual hours are calculated based upon the greater of:

the hours that the employee was contracted for at the end of the last full pay period ending on or before 23 September 2020

the hours that the employee was contracted for at the end of the last full pay period ending on or before 19 March 2020, this may be the same number of hours calculated under the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme (NB. if employees moved to part time working, this may be varied full details will be included in forthcoming Guidance)

 

For employees whose number of hours varies and/or whose pay depends on the number of hours they work, the number of usual hours is calculated based on the higher of:

the number of hours worked in the same calendar period in the tax year 2019 to 2020

the average number of hours worked in the tax year 2019 to 2020

the average number of hours worked from 1 February 2020 (or the employee’s start date if later) until 23 September 2020

Replies (15)

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By Matrix
23rd Oct 2020 07:53

Thanks you are a star. I think I just did my annual CPE hours just by reading the calculations.

Thanks (3)
Replying to Matrix:
Caroline
By accountantccole
23rd Oct 2020 07:56

Gave up last night. Struggling to make my "what if" calculator agree to their examples.
Losing the will to live now

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Replying to Matrix:
blue sheep
By NH
23rd Oct 2020 07:58

Yes I know what you mean, I wanted something clutter free to send out to clients this morning to head off the phone calls

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By Paul Crowley
23rd Oct 2020 08:24

Superb, clutter free and direct.

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By claudialowe
23rd Oct 2020 08:40

Thank you so very much for your hard work with this - much appreciated :-)

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the sea otter
By memyself-eye
23rd Oct 2020 09:35

Agreed - succinct!

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Giraffe
By Luke
23rd Oct 2020 09:50

That's a fantastic and easy read summary - thank you!

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Giraffe
By Luke
23rd Oct 2020 10:00

I would perhaps add:

Can directors claim?

Not in most cases. This is because the rules specifically exclude “payments made at the discretion of the employer or a client, where the employer or client was under no contractual obligation to pay”. In most cases directors do not have a contract of employment and are therefore not eligible for this scheme.

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Replying to Luke:
By Duggimon
23rd Oct 2020 10:24

I would wait for confirmation that's the case, contracts work in more than one way and a director who's been receiving regular salary for years could easily be said to have a contractual right to it even without a written contract of employment.

“payments made at the discretion of the employer or a client, where the employer or client was under no contractual obligation to pay” sounds much more like bonuses rather than directors' salaries.

Thanks (2)
Replying to Duggimon:
Giraffe
By Luke
23rd Oct 2020 10:36

Fair point. Wonder when on earth that will be clarified???

Perhaps for now reword it as:

Can directors claim?

We are not yet sure. The rules specifically exclude “payments made at the discretion of the employer or a client, where the employer or client was under no contractual obligation to pay”. We need to wait for clarification on whether that includes payments to the majority of directors who do not have a contract of employment.

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Replying to Luke:
RedFive
By RedFive
24th Oct 2020 09:55

I agree with Duggimon.

That relates to the calculation not eligibility. A Director genuinely working 1 day a week due to reduced demand will be very thankful for even the paltry £350 on offer.

If Directors are excluded there would be riots.

Thanks (1)
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By ohwhatnow
23rd Oct 2020 14:06

I just want to cry.......
I tried my best to do some test calculations a few days ago with the info about JSS as it was as my boss needed to know who would be offered a retainer, work or redundancy. Took me ages, gave me a migraine and I just wanted to rock slowly in a corner. Now this last minute change, and he wants me to do it all over again, by yesterday, as usual. I’m ok with excel, but not an expert by a long shot so it takes me ages to get my head round it.
Tell you what if there’s anyone out there who can get a worksheet up and running, I’d consider paying for using It myself.
I just can’t do this anymore - and certainly not the next six months

Thanks (4)
Replying to ohwhatnow:
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By JHC
23rd Oct 2020 17:28

You're not the only one who feels like this. I'm not sure I can face 6 more months of it either :-(

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Replying to ohwhatnow:
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By New To Accountancy
24th Oct 2020 11:01

I echo this, id pay too. Part of me is going through a stage where I'm starting to not even care if my calculations are correct anymore, but I know I can't think like this, it's the easy way out so I've got to go through it again. Even if I stress out though, they may still be wrong.

Why have they done this to us.

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By New To Accountancy
23rd Oct 2020 17:39

Extremely helpful, thank you.

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