ARE YOU UNABLE TO
WORK BECAUSE
OF COVID-19?
Normally as a contractor you are only paid for the hours that you have worked. As a result of COVID-19 your assignment may now have been cancelled and you would not have been eligible for any payment.
You may now be able to receive up to 80% of your salary during this time under the government’s recently announced, ‘Job Retention Scheme’. This scheme is to help employees who would otherwise have been laid off by their employer and have received no income.
In order to achieve this we must make you a Furloughed Worker. The actual guidance says:
“If your employer intends to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, they will discuss with you becoming classified as a furloughed worker. This would mean that you are kept on your employer’s payroll, rather than being laid off.
To qualify for this scheme, you should not undertake work for them while you are furloughed. This will allow your employer to claim a grant of up to 80% of your wage for all employment costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month”
This process is anticipated to be straightforward enough, however you must agree to being classed as a Furloughed Worker during this unchartered period. The alternative is simply to remain at home on unpaid leave or to be laid off without pay.
Unfortunately current guidance is that this is only eligible for those who have worked in February and have a contract of employment with us (PEO, Umbrella and PAYE Employed products). At the moment we are following anticipated guidelines for those who worked in Feb 2020 only, should we get more clarification, we will contact you directly.
You can still request the option but this has to be supported by an assignment schedule.
If this situation changes we will let you know, or you can keep checking your Contractor Portal for updates.
You can also read about claiming Universal Credit from the government website here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit
