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Employees working for UK companies forced to close by law due to coronavirus restrictions must receive two-thirds of their salaries paid by the government.
The plan will start on November 1 and run for six months, and a Treasury source said it could cost hundreds of millions of pounds a month.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said it would be a safety net for staff and businesses.
An update of the restrictions is expected on Monday, which could lead to the closure of pubs and restaurants in the most affected areas.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said “Sunak’s delay in providing support has caused unnecessary anxiety and job losses.”
Regional leaders have called for more help for struggling companies.
But the scheme will only apply to companies that are told to shut down, rather than those that choose to shut down due to the impact of Covid restrictions.
Support will be reviewed in January. Until November, companies requested to close can continue to use the licensing plan.
The grants will be paid up to a maximum of £ 2,100 per employee per month and the Treasury said they would protect jobs and allow businesses to quickly reopen once restrictions are lifted.
Sunak acknowledged that his announcement came “before what could be a difficult winter.”
In addition, for companies that were forced to close in England, the chancellor announced an increase in business grants, with up to £ 3,000 a month paid every fortnight.
The Treasury says decentralized administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive increased funding allowing them to take similar action if they so wish.
Business lobby group CBI said it “should cushion the blow for those most affected and keep more people working.”
“But many businesses, including pubs and restaurants, will still be very disappointed if they have to close their doors again after doing so much to keep customers and staff safe,” added CBI chief Dame Carolyn Fairbairn.
Small Business Federation chief Mike Cherry said the additional help for closed businesses would be “welcomed by thousands of small businesses.”
‘Range of options’
The chancellor described Friday’s announcement as “a very different scheme than we have had before, this is not a universal approach, it is an expansion of the work support scheme specifically for those people who are in business who will be asked to formally or legally”. to close”.
When asked if the ad suggested the government was asking businesses, such as hospitality companies, to shut down, Sunak said: “The increase in hospital admissions and cases in certain parts of the country is a concern.
“It is right for the government to consider a variety of options … but it is also right for them to engage with local leaders.
“That is what is happening this afternoon and over the weekend so that those conversations can happen and collectively we can decide the appropriate response.
It’s a sign of how quickly the coronavirus situation has soured that the foreign minister has to return to a policy that he thought he had parked less than two weeks ago when he announced his Winter Economic Plan.
The government insists this is not a repeat of the licensing plan, which expires at the end of this month, but in all important respects, it is the second brand of licenses.
The crucial part is that small employers will not have to make any contribution to their workers’ wages if they are legally forced to close.
Larger companies will have to contribute around 5% of employee costs in the form of contributions to National Insurance and pensions.
That’s far more generous than the expiring leave plan and far more generous than the Workforce Support Plan Mr. Sunak announced 10 days ago, which requires employers to pay 55% of active worker wages.
The reason for this is simple: those measures were applied to companies that were allowed to open. This new scheme only applies to companies that are not.
Other questions are not simple: who will be eligible? What about companies that have never been allowed to reopen since March?
Will it be applied by zip code? Will you be able to walk 10 minutes down the street to the pub that is open but have to pay 55% of the staff salary when it is less than half full?
And perhaps most importantly for the expected “beneficiaries” of this scheme – the hospitality industry – how strong is the evidence on which this policy is based and can we see it in detail?
The Employment Support Plan, which will replace the leave plan as of November 1, will allow eligible workers to receive three-quarters of their normal salary for six months.
To be eligible, employees must have a “viable job” in which they can work for at least one-third of their normal hours.
For the hours not worked, the government and the employer will each pay one third of the remaining wage. This means that the employee would receive at least 77% of his salary.
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Reuters
Pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas under new measures
A tiered system of measures for England is expected to be announced on Monday, in an effort to halt rising infection rates, to replace the patchwork of existing rules across the country.
Under the new system, different parts of the country would fall into different categories, although ministers are still discussing the precise details.
Pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas, while a ban on overnight stays is also being considered.
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