Employment

Claims worth more than £5 billion made for second Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant

New HMRC statistics show that 2 million claims made by 31 August 2020, with average value of £2,500

Procedural changes to Employment Tribunal and early conciliation practice

New statutory instrument

More than £500 million to be given to social care providers to reduce COVID-19 transmission and help protect staff and residents

Department of Health and Social Care says that fund can be used to pay staff wages for those self-isolating and hire more staff to restrict movement between homes

Extending Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by eight months could reduce unemployment in Scotland by more than 60,000, says Scottish Government

New research also finds that wider economic benefits from extension mean that 'it could pay for itself'

Labour Party leader calls for a ‘life raft’ of targeted support to replace the Job Retention Scheme while the UK remains in the ‘choppy waters’ of COVID-19

Speaking at the TUC annual conference, Kier Starmer says it makes no sense to take support away in ‘one fell swoop’ and calls on Prime Minister to work with him to build a national plan to protect millions of jobs

Black and minority ethnic workers have ‘shouldered more risk’ during coronavirus pandemic, says TUC

New analysis shows that BME people are more likely to be in precarious work and in jobs with higher coronavirus mortality rates

New Presidential Guidance issued in relation to remote and in-person employment tribunal hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic

New guidance concerns the fixing and conduct of remote and in-person hearings, and methods to safeguard open justice when hearings are conducted remotely

Targeted continuation of Job Retention Scheme needed to prevent surge in unemployment in ‘close contact’ job sectors, says JRF

Hospitality and retail sectors among those that should benefit from a new COVID-19 furlough scheme to help protect jobs while dealing with reduced capacity and demand due to social distancing measures

Employment case law round up

MPs urge Chancellor to ‘carefully consider’ targeted extensions to Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

New Treasury Committee report also recommends extension of universal credit increase, and review of statutory sick pay to ensure that workers can afford to self-isolate when needed

Motion calling on the government to abandon its ‘one-size-fits-all’ withdrawal of the Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes defeated in the Commons

House votes instead in favour of amendment that 'acknowledges that any deviation from this Government’s proposed plan will cause damage to the United Kingdom economy'

Commons Petitions Committee ‘extremely disappointed’ at government’s rejection of its recommendation to extend paid maternity leave in light of COVID-19 pandemic

Delivering government's response, Minister says current arrangements are 'sufficiently generous' to cater for wide variety of circumstances including lockdown

HMRC estimates that up to £3.5 billion in Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme payments may have been due to fraud and error

However, HMRC Chief Executive tells MPs that 'we will be focusing on tackling abuse and fraud' and not trying to find employers who have made legitimate mistakes

Northern Ireland Assembly approves motion calling on the British Government to extend the furlough scheme beyond October 2020

MLAs also call for amendment of the scheme's deadlines to allow for new entries, including where businesses are forced to close as a result of clusters or further lockdowns

Employment case law round up

TUC outlines proposal for new COVID-19 Job Protection and Upskilling Scheme

New scheme would build on the lessons of the CJRS and best practice from across Europe, but come with new conditions for businesses accessing support

Northern Ireland Finance Minister urges Chancellor to extend the furlough scheme beyond October 2020

Economic recovery is still in its infancy and it will be some time before many businesses are anywhere close to being able to achieve viable trading levels, says Conor Murphy