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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Can someone please explain the 80 per cent salary cover

346 replies

noFlowers · 20/03/2020 18:20

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.

OP posts:
MarshaBradyo · 20/03/2020 19:41

It’s not a loan.

ListenLinda · 20/03/2020 19:41

Does it apply to those force to take unpaid leave?

UntamedWisteria · 20/03/2020 19:42

@thelittlefox the company I work for has already had to give everyone a 20% payout & move to a 4-day week because of this.

Would it be better to choose a few to fire instead?

lyralalala · 20/03/2020 19:42

Do the employers need to pay the wage help back to the government after it’s over?

No. It's a grant

UntamedWisteria · 20/03/2020 19:43

sorry 20% paycut

JuanSheetIsPlenty · 20/03/2020 19:43

It’s a really shit deal for us self employed. We are entitled to the equiv of SSP which is £96 per week. Not sure why they couldn’t offer us 80% of our income (up to £2500) too. Previous 3 months statements could be used to verify what we were earning.

NotYourHolidayDick · 20/03/2020 19:44

I'm confused too.

Dh has a salary of £26000, but earns approx £40,000 bonus over the 12 months. Looks like his employer will close their doors for a few months and impossible to work from home. Will he get 80% of his p60 from last few years or just of his basic?

So many questions Sad

lyralalala · 20/03/2020 19:44

I volunteered to take unpaid leave because I have no work to do and my company cannot afford to pay me because we have had to close until the world returns to normal, until then the company has no income. Can I assume that this grant is for people like me who are still employed, not getting paid, but hope to have a job to go back to as and when possible? To avoid redundancy?

This is what he said...

'We're setting up a new coronavirus job retention scheme. Any employer in the country small or large, charitable or non-profit, will be eligible for the scheme.

'Employers will be able to contact HMRC for a grant to cover most of the wages of people who are not working but are furloughed and kept on payroll rather than being laid off.

'Government grants will cover 80 per cent of the salary of retained workers up to a total of £2,500 a month - that's just above the median income.'

Justanotherlurker · 20/03/2020 19:44

Ubi was the way to go

Again, no it wasn't, it is widely recognised by economists across the world that this situation could fuck over a generation financially, there isn't any promoting UBI with any serious backing anywhere across the globe.

It may get to a point where it may be needed, at the minute it is trying to shoe horn some policies in, it's amazing how quickly people ignore experts when it suits the narrative, especially as we have had the past few years citing big banks, multinationals etc etc wrt brexit.

It shows how many people get their 'informed' opinion from twitter.

noodledoodler · 20/03/2020 19:44

@Iusedtobeapartygirl based in what I have read I would say you will be paid what you would usually get weekly. Did you have any kind of agreement that the pattern would otherwise have continued?

Marahute · 20/03/2020 19:46

What about those of us having to take unpaid leave due to closed childcare, and yet still pay nursery fees somehow?

This scheme is undoubtedly great for those it covers, absolutely. But there are employed people who are now forced to take unpaid leave, who will still be in dire straits. My children are too young and demanding to allow me to work from home, so I without a wage until childcare is open again. I know I am not alone in this!
This scheme seems more about protecting business, than protecting individuals.

MarshaBradyo · 20/03/2020 19:46

It has a top cap of £2500 per month.

MarshaBradyo · 20/03/2020 19:47

Ah I see that has been said a few times

PepePig · 20/03/2020 19:47

Does this apply to those who have had to leave their job under SSP, therefore aren't working at the minute but are still employed, because they couldn't keep working due to being in a vulnerable group? Big difference between 80% of my wage and £95 a week Sad

IndecentFeminist · 20/03/2020 19:51

DH works for a small start up, there is still dribs and drabs of emergency response work coming in but very little. Presumably his employer can claim towards helping shore up his salary for now? And he can still do the dribs and drabs that come i

thelittlefox · 20/03/2020 19:51

80% is brilliant, if you aren't actually working.

@justanotherlurker

You are right, I am not an economist. I'm not stupid though, and I have read widely enough to know that UBI has supporters on every corner of the political compass. It's a very difficult idea for most people get their head around (hence dismissing the concept as socialist when it isn't).

Full automation and UBI, if it had already happened, would have limited the economic impact of this disaster, and quite possibly the human impact too.

isseywith4vampirecats · 20/03/2020 19:51

I lose out on 80% of wages as SSP would be more but am happy that I should have a job to go back to at the end of this

TabbyStar · 20/03/2020 19:53

The devil's in the detail. I don't get whether it's just for people who can't work, e.g. pubs, or whether it's available for businesses that are struggling but want to keep staff on to keep going, e.g. hotels.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 20/03/2020 19:54

Does anyone know how businesses can apply for this grant?

It makes far more sense to have this interventionist step now to try and protect people. Plus I suspect it will be cheaper in the long run than having to provide benefits/business/council bail outs. And if it means that I pay more tax, then that's the cost of living in a society that has a safety net when the shit hits the fan. And I say that as a higher rate tax payer.

And totally agree with Fallon here, above. It's a false economy to cut back on things like this.

We are seeing what a false economy it has been to strip the NHS to the bone, and the emergency services. Some things need to be paid for and if you don't like it - well, you'll have to lump it. Bite that bullet!

thelittlefox · 20/03/2020 19:54

UBI is not political!

lyralalala · 20/03/2020 19:54

Does anyone know how businesses can apply for this grant?

It's going to be done through HMRC

lilyboleyn · 20/03/2020 19:56

Wages is a grant. Business loans are separate loans.

thelittlefox · 20/03/2020 19:57

@lyralalala

Thanks for that, it clarifies the govt position. Still suspect it might be used to reduce working wages, but I really hope that doesn't happen.

Nonnymum · 20/03/2020 19:57

Employers won’t be expected to pay the remaining 20% will they?
Employers can top up if they like but I don't think they are obliged to.

motortroll · 20/03/2020 19:59

As a small business owner we are hoping to use this to prevent in if our employees being made redundant. We have had to make another redundant and can't justify her job, but our other employee is asked and so can help make money as soon as we are able so yes we hope to have him back (he's on unpaid leave while we reviewed everything).

As self employed people we will get the government grant of 10,000. I am effectively taking redundancy myself and returning to my old job.

We're doing everything we can. Me Earning a separate salary means we can save money on my salary. We're desperate to keep our remaining 3 employees.

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