Can someone please explain the 80 per cent salary cover

[noFlowers]

Sorry if I'm being stupid but what does this mean!

Does it mean businesses who may lay off staff get 80% of staff salaries to pay them so they can still work.

Or does it mean you lost your job due to all this and you're at home and you get 80% of your salary.

It's also possible it will be 80% of previous wages (maybe a specified month, maybe your last full working month as not everyone furloughed simultaneously, maybe an average).

They really need to release guidance urgently. I reckon if they don't a lot of companies will make cuts in early April as the risk of being stuck with a full April pay bill will be too high

I wonder if it will end up having some caveat like they will only pay it to companies who can guarantee that people will have jobs to walk back into. This is after all why they are paying it and to avoid a huge welfare bill. If companies are just going to use it to buy 3 months salary for their staff, if they are not in a position to run a viable business at the end of it resulting in all these people been laid off it's not really been successful has it?

I'm at work.
As Xenia just said, first I contacted our bank - HSBx, bank said :
Corona Virus Business Interruption Scheme was not yet available:
"I am awaiting finalisation"

So, I begged for anything. A bridging loan, or any sort of loan. Just to tide us over. No comment from the bank as yet.

2)Portal is nowhere near ready yet. End of April you say? With no sales, our cashflow won't last long, before we won't be able to pay ANY staff.

Nice one Boris. All mouth and no trousers!!

The don't knows are huge, actually.

Afaik we know

• 80%
• capped at £2500
• paid to employers
• online portal

We don't know

• if employers have to make actual payment before reclaiming (many won't have the funds)
• what it is 80% of? Is it 80% of employee salary (leaving employers to pay NI and pensions), 80% of normal total payroll cost, the total payroll cost of paying an 80% payroll...
• how is the employee wage calculated?
• can people come on and off furlough?
• how long will it take for grants/reimbursement to be paid from claim?
• what about new employees?

And probably many more. That's some very significant questions.

@StatisticallyChallenged exactly. I'm not a high earner but if it's say 80% of my bonus or not - its a £700 difference!

I can’t see companies sitting around waiting for the detail when cash is flowing out as wages. They’d better up date pdq.

A question that I'd love someone to answer if they could please!

So I am fairly new to my role (3 months) and currently I have no contract. I work very few hours a week but it brings in a bit of money.

Apparently it's stated in my contract that if I don't work, I don't get paid. My job is working with children so it ended when schools closed. So last Wednesday my superior ( not the main boss) text me to tell me that was it, we were closed.

I had no further emails, stating that we wouldn't get paid, checking we're all ok etc. Yesterday was payday and I'd obviously not been paid for the last week.

I queried this with my head manager, who confirmed that I won't be getting paid, as I wouldn't normally if I hadn't worked. She said when the 80% scheme comes into play then she'll try and get me some money.

My question - am I going to be entitled to the 80% as in a normal situation I wouldn't normally be paid? I'm just trying to work out my finances for the next few months

Maybe.

If the furlough is based on historical pay not contract, and if your employer claims it. Two big ifs I'm afraid

Thanks @StatisticallyChallenged . She's planning on claiming it apparently, so I've no doubt about that, I just can't see me being entitled as in other instances I just wouldn't get paid. It's not the end of the world, just want to be prepared

Briefing for self employed today

Tbh I'm struggling to see a situation where they start reviewing contracts. I think it will have to be based on employer say so and past wages

Question I haven't seen asked here. I have a worker coming back off maternity leave as an employee, who will be being furloughed. Any ideas whether to expect 80% of normal wages, or 80% of maternity pay? O can't find that info anywhere

Guidance coming out tonight

Yup, let's hope its clear

It was good the announcement about self employed. But not until June?

No details about employees and employers.

Banks aren't giving businesses loans, so how can businesses pay employees until the portal starts?

Small detail

"HMRC will pay employers a grant worth 80% of an employee’s usual wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that subsidised wage."

Very helpful above.

As for us self employed as I expected absolutely nothing for me as I earn over £50k yet higher NI next year despite getting no benefit this year. As ever, more and more tax and less and less back for it. He kept saying the average pay for those over £509k is £200k. Yet what about people on £60k for example - nothing for them - okay no one ever has sympathy for high earners on £50k but they are making sacrifices too, many have lost their whole work and income already.

Let us hope it doesn't all last too long

We're pretty badly hit too - growing business so 3 years ago it made a loss (due to investment), 2 years ago a small profit but artificially low because we changed accounting basis (from cash to accruals) so there were prepayments at the end but none on the way in. Bigger profit last year, but less than half of this year's. Means that using 16-19 accounts (instead of the actual last 3 years) halves the grant payment. Ouch.

£50k threshold is a pretty crappy when it's only being applied to self employed

@Xenia I thought you were a lawyer? Sorry if I’ve got that wrong. But if you are, surely your work won’t have dropped to nothing? Every lawyer I know is absolutely rushed off their feet at the moment.
I run a small manufacturing business, we have staff in the office and staff in the workshop. They are very unhappy about coming into work (especially as one uses public transport). The office staff, one is now working from home. The other has said she can’t because she doesn’t have the space. So we will have to furlough her as we can’t pay someone to sit and do nothing for weeks.
The stores staff we will also have to furlough if we close because if we aren’t getting goods out, we aren’t getting paid. This scheme will be a lifeline for us, this business has been going for 37 years but if we have to pay salaries with no money coming in we will have to lay all the staff off and then re hire once this is over.

But even our accountant said that she had no idea how it would work in practice. We would like to close on Friday but we need something in place and don’t want to make our staff take their annual leave.

Anybody got any idea what happens if you employ staff where yours isn’t their main job?
We employ a few workers who have a main job and work for us as a second lower paid job.
Can we still apply for the 80% for them?

I would expect so.

More details released

www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#employees-you-can-claim-for

I am surprised there are so many people earning over £50k profit, why are you not taking salaries instead as you should really be limited companies. Your accountants should have been advising this (excl those who maybe had surprisingly amazing first years trading so you wouldn't have known perhaps)

He kept saying the average pay for those over £50k is £200k. Yet what about people on £60k for example - nothing for them - okay no one ever has sympathy for high earners on £50k but they are making sacrifices too, many have lost their whole work and income already.
I know a self employed single Mum with two teenagers who earns 52 - she has received almost zero in child maintenance.
Totally kicked in the teeth from this.

As for us self employed as I expected absolutely nothing for me as I earn over £50k yet higher NI next year despite getting no benefit this year. As ever, more and more tax and less and less back for it.
Yep typical of the party of "business" and "low taxation".