UNITE VIEWPOINT THE ‘NUTS AND BOLTS’ OF THE JRS:
Here’s howthose employeeswho have been furloughed will be paid:
June and July: The Government will continue to pay 80 per cent of wages, capped at £2,500 per month, as well as employer National Insur- ance and pension contributions.
Employers will not be expected to pay any- thing during this period.
August: From August, employers will be responsible for National Insurance contributions and their employee’s pensions.
The Treasury says this represents just five per cent of gross employment costs busi- nesses would have incurred had the employee not been furloughed.
The Government will continue to pay 80 per cent of employees’ wages as has been the case since the scheme was introduced.
September: In September the Government’s contribu- tion to wages will decrease to 70 per cent for salaries capped at £2,190.
Employers will be expected to pay the remaining ten per cent - raising the cap to £2,500 - and furloughed employees will still take home 80 per cent of their wages.
October: The Government will further decrease its contributions, down to 60 per cent of wages up to a limit of £1,875.
Again, employers will have to increase their contribution by a further ten per cent. However, the take home pay for employees will still remain at 80 per cent, covering the time they are unable to work.
THE ‘NUTS AND BOLTS’ OF THE SEISS: Here’s how the self-employed will be paid:
• According to the Treasury, 2.3 million claims have already been made since the introduction of the fund - worth £6.8 bil- lion in total.
• Those eligible for the Government's self- employment support will be able to claim a second, final grant in August of up to £6,570.
• Applicants will receive 70 per cent of the average monthly trading profits from their business - paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits.
• There had been calls for the self-employed to be paid the same as employees who are furloughed, but, this has been rejected by the Government.
• Both the Prime Minister and the Chancel- lor have previously and publicly said: ‘...we will do whatever is needed to get every- one through this...’ Words that seem to ring rather hollow now in light of the real- ity of the assistance and the obvious glaring inequalities of financial support!
Have I misunderstood the Government’s definition and meaning of the words: “parity” and “everyone”?
I also question if they understand themean- ing of basic fairness?
Industry wide warnings are circulating, cau- tioning that once the support ends, companies and employers will start sacking staff as the money dries up.
Airlines have started warning that job losses are inevitable. Thiswill clearly knock onto an enduring depression in public demand for leisure based services, such as taxis...
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
The latest announcement from HM Govern- ment perhaps promptsmore questions than it answers:
• What will happen in the event of a second wave or spike in re-infections requiring further and possibly locally based lock- downs?
•What will happen in respect of ‘Test and Trace’ for the self-employed cab drivers who may have to continually ‘self-isolate’ if they receive a call from contact tracers in some cases on repeated occasions?
•What ongoing assistance is there for any self-employedmembers who are ‘clinically extremely vulnerable individuals’?
•What about those self-employed, who reside with a person within the ‘clinically extremely vulnerable individuals’ group, who may be required to carry on “shield- ing” and cannot work as a result of the risk of potentially bringing infection(s) back to a ‘clinically extremely vulnerable individu- al’ living at home?
• Most self-employed are not entitled to Universal Credit due to the draconian ‘means testing’, so what assistance will be available to them in the event of financial hardship?
Cue music... Johnny Nash – There Are More Questions Than Answers...
Drive carefully and above all, stay well...
Article supplied by: Sean Ridley Secretary Unite the Union South East Region (Cab Section)
Sean.Ridley@unitetheunion.org
JULY 2020
73
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
