Citizen's Advice Bureau help for employees and self-employed
Rachel Sutherland, the East and Central Sutherland Citizens Advice Bureau interim manager, has put together two fact sheets to help employees and the self employed during the current crisis.
For employees she states:
The government has said that you should only go to work if your work can "absolutely not be done from home". If your place of work has shut down or there is no work for you because of coronavirus, you can carry on getting paid. Your employer can use the UK government’s Coronavirus Job Retention scheme to pay you while there’s no work to do. This includes if you’re a casual worker, on a zero-hours contract or an agency worker. When your employer applies to the scheme, you’ll be paid 80% of your normal pay up to a maximum of £2500 a month. This will continue until the government ends the scheme, or you are able to return to work. When your employer applies to the scheme they have to pay you for any time you were sent home from 1st march 2020. This is called ‘backdating’ your pay. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme only covers you if you’re not working. If you’re working from home you should get your normal pay from your employer. You may have heard the term furloughed and wondered what this means? This means your employer is using the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. You are still employed by your employer while you’re not working, making you a furloughed worker. The government will only pay your employer if they have evidence you’ve been furloughed. Your employer should send you a letter or email explaining you’ll be paid through the scheme. If they haven’t sent you anything, ask for confirmation in writing.
The government will work out 80% of your normal pay before tax. You can’t get more than £2,500 a month, even if 80% of your normal pay is more than this. Any commission or bonuses you usually get will not be included in this calculation.
Some employers may decide to pay you the extra 20% so you get 100% of your normal pay, however they don’t have to. Your employer will deduct tax, national Insurance contributions and any other deductions they normally make. You may find that 80% of your pay is below minimum wage. This isn’t against the law, because you are not working. If you find you don’t have enough money to live on you can contact us here at the bureau to check what benefits you may be able to get, or check to see what help you can get with your bills.
If you’re self-isolating because you are ‘extremely vulnerable’ your employer can furlough you and pay you through the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme. They can do this even if the business is not shutting down.
Your employer is able to pay you through this scheme so long as you were on your employer’s payroll on 28th February 2020.
If you were made redundant or left your job after that date you need to challenge your redundancy or ask for your old job back before your employer can pay you using the scheme. Write to your employer asking them to rehire you. Explain that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme says if they rehire you. They can treat you as a furloughed worker and claim money to pay you. If your employer says they won’t pay you under the scheme or rehire you, you can ask them to give you their reasons in writing and you can then contact us here at the bureau for further advice.
For the self employed, Rachel says:
If your income has dropped because of coronavirus, you might be able to get money from the government. You could get 80% of your average profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. This is through the Self-employment Income Support Scheme. If you’re eligible, you can get money to cover until at least the end of June 2020. You can get the grant if you’re self-employed or a member of a partnership.
Your self employed profits must be less than £50,000 per year and they must make up more than half of your total income. The government will look at your tax returns for the last three years to see if you are eligible. You’ll so have to demonstrate you have lost profits due to coronavirus, have submitted a tax return for the tax year 2018-2019, you need to submit this by April 23 2020 if you haven’t already, have earned self-employed income in the tax year 2019-2020. If you are eligible HMRC will calculate your profits based on any tax returns you’ve submitted over the last three tax years. You’ll receive one payment to cover the whole length of the scheme. Unfortunately you are unable to apply for the scheme yet, HMRC will contact you if they think you are eligible. They’ll tell you when you will get the payment, but this may not be until June. If you need money while you’re waiting you can contact the bureau to find out what benefits you may be eligible to claim in the meantime.
If you need urgent help to pay for essentials like food, gas or electricity because of coronavirus, you could apply for a crisis grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund.
You might also be able to claim contribution-based or ‘new-style’ Employment and Support Allowance if you have coronavirus or you’re self-isolating. You’ll need to have paid enough National Insurance contributions for two tax years – in 2020 the tax years are 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. If you can get ESA, you’ll be paid from the first day you were sick, or self-isolating. You’ll also be able to get ESA if you’re caring for a child who has coronavirus or who’s been told to self-isolate. You may be able to claim Universal Credit, you can still get Universal Credit if you are self-employed.
If you’ve not claimed benefits before it can be confusing to know where to turn or what you can claim. Our advisers here at the bureau are trained and available to help you navigate through these uncertain times. Please call us or email to find out more - 01408 633000 or advice@ecscab.org.uk
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