Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Businesses and Employers Bulletin 18 Aug 2020  

Please see the most recent COVID-19 bulletin below.

CONTENTS

• Boost your business with TrustMark today
• The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claim service is now open
• New Updates and Guidance

Boost your business with TrustMark today
Want to maximise on government funding? Want to make sure that your business is ready to help customers across the UK improve the energy efficiency of their homes? Millions of pounds of government cash will be made available through the Green Home Grants for home owners from next month, so make sure your business is ready to hit the ground running and receive the orders as they start coming in, ready to do good, green business. Sign up here- it only takes ten minutes.

TrustMark is the Government Scheme covering work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home.  When a consumer chooses a TrustMark Registered Business, they are engaging an organisation that has been thoroughly vetted to meet required standards, and has made a commitment to good customer service.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme claim service is now open
If you’re eligible for the second and final grant, and your business has been adversely affected on or after 14 July 2020, you can make a claim on or before 19 October 2020. You can claim for the second grant even if you did not make a claim for the first grant. If you have different circumstances it can affect your eligibility. If you're self-employed or member of a partnership, find out how your circumstances can affect your eligibility for the scheme. Please see here to understand how HMRC works out trading and non-trading income for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

New Updates and Guidance
Self-isolating after returning to the UK: Guidance for Employers
A person’s employment rights will depend on their employment status and specific circumstances. Please check the Guidance on returning to the UK.  In summary:

• Where possible people should work from home during their self-isolation period. Employees should talk to their employer about working from home before they travel.
• Employees can agree with their employer to take leave to cover the period of their self-isolation, providing they have enough leave remaining.
• Employers can also tell employees to take leave as long as they give them enough notice. Find out about notice periods.
• Employees may be able to take unpaid leave if they’re forced to travel to deal with an emergency involving a family member or dependent. Find out about time off for family and dependants.
• If you’re out of the country when a quarantine is announced. Employees should talk to their employer as soon as possible to discuss options.

Further information can be found here.

Public encouraged to register for COVID-19 vaccine trials as 100,000 already sign-up
Over 100,000 people have volunteered to take part in COVID-19 vaccine trials, helping to speed up efforts to discover a safe and effective vaccine. UK researchers urge more volunteers across all groups to sign-up, especially the over 65s and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Find out more about registering here.

Examples to help calculate your employees' wages if claiming through the Job Retention Scheme
Check examples to help you calculate your employee's wages, National Insurance contributions and pension contributions if you're claiming through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for September and October. Find details here.

Access to Work: new factsheet
Factsheet about Access to Work and how it can help overcome barriers to starting or keeping a job if an employee has a disability or long term health condition. The claiming process during coronavirus guidance has been updated. Find more information here. The Access to Work guide for employers can be found here.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy