Furlough scheme extended further

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that the furlough scheme is to be extended until the end of April 2021 with the Government continuing to contribute 80% towards wages.

In a move to ensure firms can access the support they need through continuing economic disruption, Mr Sunak also confirmed that he would be extending the Government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes until the end of March.

These changes come ahead of the Budget, which the Chancellor has confirmed will take place on 3 March 2021.

This will, he said, deliver the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs, so the extensions to the business loan and furlough schemes enable businesses to plan with certainty and access support in the first few months of the New Year ahead of that further update on wider Covid-19 economic support.

The eligibility criteria for the UK-wide scheme will remain unchanged and these changes will continue to apply to all Devolved Administrations.

The Chancellor said he would review the employer contribution element of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in January, but decided to bring this forward to allow businesses to plan ahead for the remainder of the winter and the New Year.

The Government will continue to pay 80% of the salary of employees for hours not worked until the end of April, he confirmed.

Employers will only be required to pay wages, National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pensions for hours worked, and NICs and pensions for hours not worked.

The loans available until the end of March are the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

These had been due to close at the end of January.

The Treasury has pointed out that extending the CJRS until the end of April gives businesses certainty well ahead of the 45-day redundancy notice period, with the Budget setting out the next phase of support more than 45 days before the new end date of the scheme.

Christmas and Annual leave

With Christmas Day falling next week, organisations may wonder how they should manage annual leave over the festive period. We explore this further below.

As the festive season approaches, workers will be looking forward to spending some quality time at home with their friends and family, provided they do so with coronavirus restrictions in mind. While most staff will be entitled to enjoy some time off over Christmas, this will differ depending on the organisation’s approach and their contractual terms.

Three bank holidays span the festive period; Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Although Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, the bank holiday for this particular day will actually fall on the following Monday 28 December. Workers often believe that they have the statutory right to paid time off work on these days. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Instead, this will depend on their contract of employment and employees can be made to work bank holidays, providing they still receive a minimum of 28 days paid holiday within the leave year.

Workers that are originally scheduled to work over Christmas may request this time off as annual leave. Again, organisations are free to set their own rules on holidays over the festive period, and those who operate in industries such as retail and hospitality that are currently permitted to be open may implement a blanket ban, preventing staff from taking holidays during this time to cope with increased customer demand.

Alternatively, organisations can choose to let staff book time off over the festive season, and it would be reasonable to require individuals to follow the standard procedure for requesting annual leave. Although employers may be encouraged to favour requests from staff with young children, they should consider where this may lead to accusations of favouritism.

Some employers may opt to relax rules on how many staff can be off at the same time over Christmas, especially if the business is expected to be slow. Usually, organisations may want to give extra consideration to workers from further afield who plan to travel home over the Christmas period, however these workers should be reminded about current coronavirus travel restrictions, both overseas and to different areas in the UK.

Whilst organisations should avoid trying to dictate to staff what they can and cannot do in their spare time, they should be reminded of the rules surrounding the need to self-isolate. If employees are going to need to take unpaid leave, for example, it may deter them from taking potentially risky tips.

Companies that shut down temporarily in between Christmas and New Year can opt to enforce mandatory annual leave to cover this period. For this to work, organisations must provide staff with sufficient notice. Organisations can do this by distributing an email on this matter or including this information within contracts of employment.

Staff that are currently on furlough, and therefore receiving 80 per cent of their wages, can take the Christmas bank holidays as annual leave, however they need to be paid in full for this time. This means that the organisation will need to top up their holiday pay by the remaining 20 per cent.

Workers that are curious about their entitlement to leave during the Christmas period are encouraged to review their contracts and any relevant workplace policies. While organisations do have the flexibility to set their own rules on holidays during this time, they should think carefully about which approach would best support their specific business operations.

Shorter Self-isolation periods introduced across the UK

The government has confirmed that self-isolation periods in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are to be shortened to 10 days from Monday 14 December.

The UK government has confirmed that this change will also be extended to the rest of its nations; England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

This change means that those who has come into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus will now need to self-isolate for a period of 10 days instead of 14. It also includes those who are quarantining after returning from a high-risk country. Currently, isolation periods for those who test positive is 10 days, and this is to remain the same.

Anyone who is currently self-isolating will be able to end their quarantine if they hit this 10-day mark from Monday, and will therefore not need to complete the full 14 days. However, if they do start to show symptoms in this time, or test positive for coronavirus, they will need to isolate for a further 10 days from this date as usual.

In a joint statement, the four UK chief medical officers (CMOs) have outlined that this decision came following a review of the evidence, saying that they are ‘confident’ self-isolation periods can be reduced in these circumstances.

Organisations will now be able to ask staff back into work after 10 days instead of 14, which will certainly help to reduce the impact of them not being able to come into the workplace for this period of self-isolation. Whilst staff that cannot work from home during this time will still be entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP), this will be shortened to 10 days instead of 14.

It should be noted that this will now apply across the UK, regardless of local restrictions. It is also understood that the NHS Test and Trace app will not be updated until Thursday. Because there will be a time-lag before it updates, anyone who has been advised to isolate by the app can leave isolation if their countdown timer hits three days between Monday and Thursday.

A return to the three tier system

With the current national lockdown in England now ended on 2 December, the Prime Minister has confirmed a return to the three tier system.

The Government has now launched an online tool where it should be possible to enter a postcode to confirm the relevant tier, which can be found here.

A full list of areas and the tiers to which they have been allocated is available here.

According to the Health Secretary, allocation to a tier is based on: Case detection rates in all age groups; Case detection rates in the over 60s; the rate at which cases are rising or falling; positivity rate (the number of positive cases detected as a percentage of tests taken); and pressure on the NHS.

Tier 1

There are very few regions in Tier 1 (medium alert): Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly.

Tier 2

Within Tier 2 (High alert), the most notable entries are all 32 boroughs of London (plus the City) and Liverpool City Region (thanks, presumably to the enhanced testing trialled there).

Cumbria and Warrington and Cheshire join Liverpool in Tier 2 as do York, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire (including Peterborough), East and West Sussex, Surrey and Windsor and Maidenhead.

Much of the South West is also in Tier 2 including Dorset, Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Gloucestershire, Devon and Wiltshire and Swindon.

Tier 3

Turning to the Very High alert Tier 3, we find most of the North East including Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle upon Tyne, County Durham, Gateshead and Northumberland.

In the North West, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen all come under Tier 3 restrictions as do, on the other side of the Pennines, The Humber and West and South Yorkshire.

Much of the Midlands will also be in this tier: Birmingham and Black Country, Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the west while in the east Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire, Leicester and Leicestershire and Lincolnshire are all included.

In the South East, only Slough and Kent and Medway fall into Tier 3 while the South West sees Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset included.

The measures will be reviewed every fortnight, Mr Hancock said, with the first full review to be completed by 16 December.