Main points from today
- Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, led the briefing today.
- 93,873 positive cases, 12,107 deaths an increase of 788 from yesterday.
- Evidence that the number of hospitalisations is stabilising and plateauing.
Latest Guidance (employment and business)
Claim for your employees’ wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – updated at 5.33pm on 9th April 2020
The 3rd version of the CJRS was published on 9th April 2020. The main changes were:-
- Employees who are off sick can be furloughed.
- If your employee is on sick leave or self-isolating as a result of Coronavirus, they’ll be able to get Statutory Sick Pay. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is not intended for short-term absences from work due to sickness, and there is a 3 week minimum furlough period.
- Short term illness/ self-isolation should not be a consideration in deciding whether to furlough an employee. If, however, employers want to furlough employees for business reasons and they are currently off sick, they are eligible to do so, as with other employees. In these cases, the employee should no longer receive sick pay and would be classified as a furloughed employee.
- Employers are also entitled to furlough employees who are being shielded or off on long-term sick leave. It is up to employers to decide whether to furlough these employees.
- Employees can be switched between sickness absence and furlough.
- No further guidance on whether the grant can be used towards holiday pay.
- Foreign nationals are eligible to be furloughed. Grants under the scheme are not counted as ‘access to public funds’, and you can furlough employees on all categories of visa.
- To be eligible for the grant, when on furlough, an employee cannot undertake work for, or on behalf, of the organisation or any linked or associated organisation. No guidance on what is a linked organisation.
- Following a TUPE transfer, a new employer is eligible to claim under the CJRS in respect of the employees of a previous business transferred after 28th February 2020.
Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme
No further guidance today.
Latest Guidance (health)
No new guidance today.
Schools
No new school guidance over the long weekend.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): school admission appeals Added guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) impact on school admission appeals. 3:17pm, 14 April 2020.
The general school guidance starts here:-
Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for schools and other educational settings
General Guidance
The general coronavirus guidance starts here:-
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
