Employers taking part in the government’s furlough scheme will start paying 20 per cent of staff wages, their National Insurance employer contributions and their pension contributions from August, under plans soon to be announced by Rishi Sunak.
These details are set to be unveiled for the first time by the chancellor of the exchequer within days, according to those familiar with the proposals.
Mr Sunak said last month that the job retention scheme would be extended from the end of June by four months to the end of October, giving breathing space to about 1m hard-pressed companies. There are currently 8.4m people being paid by the state through the furlough scheme, along with another 2m receiving support from a separate self-employed scheme.
But at that time the chancellor also said companies would have to start paying a share of the costs of the scheme, which has an estimated price tag of £80bn according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Companies have also successfully argued for the scheme to be more flexible, allowing part-time workers to benefit from the payments, which enable staff to receive 80 per cent of pay up to a cap of £2,500 a month.
Under the details — which have now been all but finalised — employers will pay 20 per cent of each furloughed worker’s salary as well as their National Insurance contributions. They will also pay their pension contributions, contrary to some earlier expectations.
Mr Sunak will also say that companies will not be allowed to put any more staff on the scheme after a new cut-off point which is expected to be just weeks away.
The government is keen to gradually remove its various support mechanisms over time because of their huge cost but ministers are worried about a sudden rise in redundancies. Mr Sunak has warned that the UK is facing a “very serious economic crisis”, with many jobs expected to be lost in the days and weeks to come.
Survey results released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics underlined the need for the government to continue supporting wages even once businesses were allowed to reopen. Businesses about to resume trading in May had said they planned to bring back less than a third of staff initially.
However, the decision to treat all sectors equally could prove problematic. The Resolution Foundation, a think-tank, noted that asking employers to make even a small contribution could trigger a wave of redundancies in the worst-hit sectors of hospitality and leisure. But it argued a higher contribution could be appropriate elsewhere to encourage employers to bring staff back quickly.
A survey conducted by the Institute of Directors found that a quarter of employers using the job retention scheme said they would not be able to afford to make any contribution at all towards furloughed workers' wages, even though half felt able to pay a 20 per cent contribution from August.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzViY2FmYjMwLWI4ZTItNDNhZi05YTcwLTQ2MDgxNjZmZTk0N9IBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50LzViY2FmYjMwLWI4ZTItNDNhZi05YTcwLTQ2MDgxNjZmZTk0Nw?oc=5
2020-05-28 14:25:13Z
52780810801144
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar