Coronavirus (COVID-19) Businesses and Employers Bulletin - 19 November 2020
19 November 2020
The Chancellor of the
Exchequer's Plan for Jobs
Plan for Jobs: Skills incentives for employers: As part
of the Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs there are a range skills programmes, some of
which offer financial incentives, that are available for employers who are
considering hiring employees or offering work experience. If your business is
looking to potentially:
- Develop
the talent pool in your business or develop a motivated, skilled and
qualified workforce
- Build a
pipeline of talent for junior positions
- Test out
if someone is right for permanent job or apprenticeship with you
- Carry
out a skill needs analysis for your business to understand gaps and find
solutions
- Find a
flexible programme that can be tailored to meet your recruitment needs
- Find
more flexible ways to offer a work placement
Then
one of these programmes might be right for your business.
These
incentives can help you to invest in your business, help people upskill and
improve their chances of securing a good job in a highly competitive labour
market giving your business an edge to support your overall
goals.
To
learn more about the variety of offers available and how to apply please visit GOV.UK.
Letters to the construction and
manufacturing sectors
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok
Sharma, has written to those working in the construction sector and its supply chain and
those in the manufacturing industry and its supply chain.
The letters emphasise that the sectors can and should continue to work during
the current period of restrictions and follow government guidance on safe
working.New Guidance
Income Tax and National Insurance contributions exemption for employer-provided Coronavirus antigen tests: The government is committed to supporting businesses and individuals through the Coronavirus pandemic, and this measure aims to make sure the use of relevant antigen testing procedures by employers are not subject to a tax charge. Find out more here.
Open consultation: Stopping movement of staff between care
settings: We want your views on plans to minimise the risk of Coronavirus
infections, by making residential and nursing care home providers restrict the
movement of care staff. Consultation closes at midday on 23
November 2020. For more on the consultation and how to respond,
click here.
The UK Transition: Time is
Running Out
With
just 43 days to go until the UK’s new start, attend one of our webinars to help
prepare your business.
- Business travel and investing or establishing in the EU - 11am,
Wednesday 25 November, and then on demand - register here.
Watch
other sector specific webinars on demand here and register for all transition webinars here.
Updated Guidance
Guidance on claiming for employees wages through the
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been updated:
- The
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is being extended until 31 March 2021.
- 30
November 2020 is the last day employers can submit or change claims for
periods ending on or before 31 October 2020.
- Claims
for furlough days in November 2020 must be submitted by 14 December 2020.
- Guidance
has been updated with detail on employer claim
information that HMRC will make public.
- Guidance
on calculating how much you can claim for furloughed and flexibly
furloughed employees has been updated with clarification of information
relating to claim period deadlines and timings
- Language
has been changed to make it clear that for claim periods starting on or
after 1 December 2020 you cannot claim for any days on or after 1 December
2020 during which the furloughed employee was serving a contractual or
statutory notice period. Find out more here.
- Eligibility
criteria has been made clearer for employees who are made redundant on or
after 23 September 2020 and you have re-employed and employees that have a
fixed term contract that expired after 23 September. Find out more here.
Maintaining records of staff, customers and visitors to
support NHS Test and Trace: Cinemas, concert venues and
theatres have been added to the list of venues that must have a system in
place to request and record contact details of their customers, visitors and
staff to help break the chains of transmission of Coronavirus. It has also been
clarified that indoor sports and leisure centres includes gyms.
Providing apprenticeships during the Coronavirus outbreak:
Guidance for apprentices, employers, training providers and assessment
organisations has been updated with information about the
extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the national restrictions
guidance, the package of support available for those who have been made
redundant on or after 15 October, and functional skills.
Travel
Transport measures to protect the UK from variant strains
of COVID-19: New guidance for lorry drivers and maritime and aviation
transport crew moving freight between the UK and places with outbreaks of
variant strain COVID-19 has been published.
Extra Bank Holiday Announced
Extra Bank Holiday to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in
2022: The Nation will come together over a four-day Bank Holiday weekend
to celebrate The Queen’s 70-year reign. The May Bank Holiday Weekend will be
moved to Thursday 2 June 2022, and an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3 June
2022 will see a four-day weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum
Jubilee - the first time any British monarch has reached this historic
milestone. For more information on June 2022 Bank Holiday, check here.
