Actually, the government says going out to work is allowed. Provided we are not from an ‘at risk’ group, (with under-lying health conditions), working for an employer that is allowed to stay open is fine.
It should be safe because employers will ensure social distancing and good hygiene procedures are in place. In fact, farmers, supermarkets, warehouses and distribution firms are desperate for staff right now. We can even work for them if we’ve been furloughed on a job retention scheme with our normal employer.
For people wanting exercise and fresh air, fruit and veg picking could be a godsend. For drivers who are sick of being couped up at home, deliveries could be the release they’ve been praying for. It’s not always easy living on top of each other at home, so work could be good for body and mind right now. And it will keep the shelves stocked and our neighbours fed too.
To get SSP you need to be an employee (not self-employed) and earn an average of £118 per week. For those of us that can’t claim SSP, the government announced they are making it easier to claim Universal Credit and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance). Some of the measures that have been put in place to make claiming easier include:
Not needing to provide a ‘fit note’ to make a new claim for UC or ESA;
A month’s UC paid upfront as an advance without needing to attend the jobcentre;
The seven day wait for new ESA claimants has been reduced, and will now be payable from day one.
More info:
- https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-support-for-employees-benefit-claimants-and-businesses
- BBC info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51628524
Also, the government have now announced that self-employed workers may be able to receive a one-off grant in June. The grant (The Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme) is available to self-employed workers who have an average trading profit of less than £50,000 over the past three tax years. Or, if we have only been self-employed for one year (2018/19 tax year) our earnings must be less than £50,000.
The grant is only available to people whose self-employed earnings make up more than half of their annual income. The government will be in touch directly with those of us who are eligible for the grant. The grant will cover a three-month period (March – May) and will cover 80% of lost earnings up to £2,500 per month (so £7,500 in all).
More info on The Coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme is available on the government’s website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
You can take on temp work if you get permission from your employer in advance. If you need money now you can apply for UC and they will look at your individual case.
Apply for Universal Credit online here: gov.uk/apply-universal-credit
Government guidance tells us that once we are ‘on furlough’ we are unable to carry out work for our employer. We may be able to do training as long as it is not making money for, or providing services to, our employer. We can still work for another employer, if for example we have a second job, but any employer that puts us on ‘furlough’ can not request we undertake any paid work for the duration of the scheme.
For full guidance see here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#while-youre-on-furlough
HMRC will calculate your average profits based on any tax returns you’ve submitted over the last three tax years.
This means that if the average profit over the three year period is under £50,000, you’ll be eligible for the scheme. If the average profit over the three year period is over £50,000, you will be ineligible for the scheme.
If eligible, you’ll get 1 payment to cover the whole length of the scheme, which will be paid in June.
More here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/coronavirus-if-youre-self-employed/
Currently, there are shortages of workers in supermarkets for deliveries and shelf stacking and also for call centres dealing with 111 calls.
Lookout for opportunities online to help provide cover for those who are off sick. Being prepared to work in a variety of roles will give you the most opportunities. It may also be possible to apply for money from your former employer – you can check here. https://www.gov.uk/lay-offs-short-timeworking/guarantee-pay or access some benefits to bridge the gap.
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/indeed-job-search-during-covid-19
And while applying, it’s always worth considering that at the moment, all jobs that involve working outside of the home and directly with the public involve a level of health risk, especially if you or those in your family are older, or have underlying health issues.
In the first instance, contact your Bank – check for the guidance on your Bank’s website, many banks are asking for customers to contact them on social media and email. The phone they are reserving for vulnerable people who do not have access to the internet.
Banks are helping by giving people extensions to loans, mortgage holidays of 3 months, instant access to savings such as ISA’s and savings that would usually be tied into agreements.
For more information on the kind of help available from banks, check here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/uk-coronavirus-help-and-your-rights/#producthelp
Schools have issued letters to inform parents of the new rules; you will have to apply for a place and prove you meet the criteria before sending your child into school. You will be invited to apply if you work in a critical worker role or your child meets the vulnerable child criteria.
More information is available from the link below, and from your child’s school: gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers
For smaller businesses, bosses may well be trying all they can to keep things going but their starting point should to ask you, not tell you.
They might also be trying to save your job in the longer term so ask what happens if you say ‘no’. The Money Advice Service talks through your rights here: https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/working-reduced-hours-as-an-alternative-to-redundancy
Yes. Low earning self-employed people can apply for Universal Credit (UC). Self-employed people forced to take time off can now apply. There is usually a ‘minimum income floor’ but this has been removed while the crisis is ongoing. The minimum income floor is what the government would usually estimate is the least we would earn each month when self-employed. It affects how much Universal Credit we might receive. Not having the floor means we can claim for time spent off work due to sickness. For more information, contact your Work Coach.
Also, the government have now announced that self-employed workers may be able to receive a one-off grant in June. The grant (The coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme) is available to self-employed workers who have an average trading profit of less than £50,000 over the past three tax years. Or, if we have only been self-employed for one year (2018/19 tax year) our earnings must be less than £50,000.
The grant is only available to people whose self-employed earnings make up more than half of their annual income. The government will be in touch directly with those of us who are eligible for the grant. The grant will cover a three-month period (March – May) and will cover 80% of lost earnings up to £2,500 per month (so £7,500 in all).
More info on The Coronavirus Self-employment Income Support Scheme is available on the government’s website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme
Updated 06/04/2020
Many employers don’t pay staff for time taken off sick, or it is only for a limited time. Check your staff handbook or employment contract, if you have one, to see what it says. You may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), though. On 12th March, the government confirmed emergency plans to allow people to claim SSP from day one of any absence related to Coronavirus. (It is still paid through your employer.)
Before this outbreak, SSP was available to paid employees but only from the fourth day of absence from work due to illness. The rate for SSP is currently £95.85 per week. More info on statutory sick pay is available here: https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/how-to-claim
Like people who have been diagnosed sick with Coronavirus, you may be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). On 12th March, the government confirmed emergency plans to allow people to claim statutory sick pay (SPP) from day one of ANY absence related to Coronavirus. (It is still paid through your employer.) The rate for SSP is currently £95.85 per week. More info on statutory sick pay is available here: https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay/how-to-claim
No. The NHS 111 service is being extended so we will be able to get evidence (a ‘isolation note’ as it’s known) through the NHS 111 website. The government has advised people to stay away from GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals, in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Instead visit the 111 NHS website: https://111.nhs.uk/isolation-note
To get SSP you need to be an employee (not self-employed) and earn an average of £118 per week. For those of us that can’t claim SSP, the government announced they are making it easier for people to claim Universal Credit and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance). Some of the measures that have been put in place to make claiming easier include:
- Not needing to provide a ‘fit note’ to make a new claim for UC or ESA;
- A month’s UC paid upfront as an advance without needing to attend the job center;
- The seven day wait for new ESA claimants has been reduced, and will now be payable from day one.
More info:
- https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-support-for-employees-benefit-claimants-and-businesses
- BBC info: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51628524
Many employers will recognise that as it’s not your fault, you ought to get paid. Your contract may require them to, if you have fixed hours. This is easier for some bosses than others. Bigger organisations, for example, may be able to absorb ongoing staff costs but a small, local business might not. They might ask you to take unpaid leave or might be forced to make your post redundant, although you should still be paid for your notice period and any payment you are due by law, (see advice from ACAS here).
For people whose paid work will stop because premises have closed or the organisation has suspended services, they should explore what benefits they can access straight away. The government has said it wants to help but the welfare system is complex. It was already struggling to meet everyone’s needs as quickly as they needed it before Coronavirus. It is not totally clear what help is available for people who are not sick or self-isolating but unable to work.
For now, keep an eye on: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-support-for-employees-benefit-claimants-and-businesses
Also updates on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees#furloughed-workers
Okay. Take a moment and try not to panic. (We know that can be hard.)
The first thing we recommend is taking a quick money health-check, which the Quids in! Future-Proof Your Finances Test can take us through. It’s a list of simple yes/no questions to help us identify anything we might try to keep costs down and income up. At the end, it explains why it’s good to try the things we don’t yet have in place and offers some guidance on where to start.
We might be able to save money somewhere but there could also be extra income we can get hold of, like emergency benefits or grants. Are you in East London, Gloucestershire or Bath & North East Somerset? If so, you can call your local Quids In Centre who will be happy to go through the money health-check with you. The Centres are run by Clean Slate.
Usually, the first four steps for protecting ourselves against debt is to:
1) List our income and all our outgoings to see how short we might be
2) Look at what can be cut or where extra cash could come in
3) Contact any companies, landlords or official bodies we owe money to and explain the situation and ask them to help
4) Contact Stepchange Debt Charity or National Debtline if we feel we’re unable to keep on top of debts.
See our Useful Links page here.
The government have now updated their advice on the coronavirus job retention scheme to include parents unable to work due to childcare commitments. This means that parents can request to be ‘furloughed’ by their employer, and receive 80% of their salary (up to a max of £2,500 per month) through the government while they remain off from work. The ‘furlough’ period is currently only running until the end of May 2020, but this may be extended.
Please bear in mind that ‘furloughing’ is done at the employer’s discretion, and some employers will not be able to pay the money until they receive it, which may not be until the end of the period. More info: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
This could become the hottest potato for government because bosses don’t have to pay staff who cannot work due to childcare. According to ACAS, parents can only request unpaid leave to remain home for childcare reasons unless their contract says otherwise. So the starting point has to be: Check your contract. Unpaid leave for this will seem unfair to millions because this is not a normal situation – these are not school holidays.
But employers will also resist picking up the cost of staff who don’t work. That said, it is against the law for them to be seen to treat parents differently from staff without kids. If employed for more than half a year, workers are entitled to request ‘flexible working request’, see ACAS advice.
You could ask to move working hours to fit around your children’s needs or request to go part-time. The employer does not have to agree to this if it is too disruptive to their day-to-day business. Keep watching the government web page here on benefits available to people who are unable to work because of Coronavirus. They might be forced to offer support to parents in this position. Single parents might find Gingerbread useful for advice.
Further government information on taking time off for dependants here: https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants
Updated 8/4/2020
As staff, we don’t get to choose if we stay off or not unless we’re ill or self-isolating. The government promise of covering 80 per cent of wages is only where there is no work for people to do (because they cannot do their job from home), where that would otherwise mean our employer would make us redundant.
There’s a term many of us had not heard before, ‘furloughing’, which is where our job is retained but we’re asked not to work for a period. Most employers will keep paying us our full salary and, unless our employment contract allows for it (which is unlikely in most standard contracts), an employer needs to ask us first if they only want to pay us the 80 per cent of our wages covered by government.
But if we’re expected and able to work from home, or in the workplace if we’re a key worker, we don’t have the option of stopping work – unless we choose to quit. The government subsidy will only go to the employer. We cannot claim it ourselves.
