| HR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Jackie le Poidevin, Editor-in-Chief, HR Adviser |
How to Claim Your Kickstart Funding (Warning: It’s Not Easy if You’re a Small Business)
The Kickstart Scheme, designed to try and limit youth unemployment in the wake of the lockdown, is now open. Under the scheme, the government will pay you a grant for each young person you hire but there are quite a few catches, particularly if you’re a small employer. Here, we explain how the scheme works and how you can apply.
These are the key points to be aware of:
- The scheme is open to all employers in England, Scotland and Wales.
- You must be creating a new job – if you’re looking for someone to replace a departing employee, or an existing employee or contractor would lose their job, you won’t be eligible for funding.
- The new role must be for at least 25 hours a week for 6 months.
- You must pay the young person at least the national minimum wage (NMW) for their age group.
- The role must not require extensive upfront training.
- The role must help the person to develop skills and experience that will be useful to them in subsequent jobs, such as good attendance, timekeeping and teamwork. You should also help the person to find long-term work, including by helping with career advice, goal setting, CV writing and preparing for an interview. When you apply to the scheme, you’ll have to set out the support you’ll provide.
What Funding is Available?
You’ll receive funding to cover 100% of the relevant NMW for 25 hours a week over the 6-month period, plus the associated national insurance and minimum automatic enrolment contributions. A sum of £1,500 per job is also available for set-up costs, support and training.
How Do You Apply?
If you’re creating 30 or more new jobs, you can apply via the government’s website at bit.ly/3msWnSQ. Otherwise, you must link up with (‘partner’) other businesses until you have 30 jobs between you. You can approach other employers directly and you can receive £300 to help you with the administrative cost of bringing businesses together. Or you can register your interest in partnering with your local chamber of commerce, local authority, your trade body or the government contacts listed at bit.ly/3ko3hXr.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned that it could take small businesses months to find enough partners. The government also intends to vet employers who apply on behalf of a group, which will add to the delays. It will then take up to a month for the government to process applications to the scheme. The FSB has, however, been discussing its concerns with government officials and a Treasury source has said the scheme may be adapted.
How Do You Find Candidates?
When you apply to the scheme, you must set out details of the job. The government will then find young people who meet your requirements and have the skills you need. They will all be aged 18 to 25 and be on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. These candidates will apply to you and you can choose who to appoint.
What Happens at the End of the 6 Months?
If you want, another young person can take the job at the end of the initial placement.
| PAYROLL
Sarah Bradford, Editor-in-Chief, Pay & Benefits Adviser |
Tax Implications of Retaining or Returning Homeworking Equipment
To minimise the spread of Coronavirus, employees were asked to work from home where they could – at very short notice. Many employees found themselves working from home for the first time and consequently were not set up for homeworking. The lack of time to plan and the large numbers of employees who were suddenly expected to work from home meant that it was often not practicable for employers to provide employees with what they needed. As a result, employees were often left to set themselves up, either reclaiming the cost of homeworking equipment purchased from their employer, or meeting the cost themselves and claiming tax relief. So, what happens to the homeworking equipment when the employee returns to work and are there any associated tax implications?
Employee Returns Employer-provided Equipment
Where the employer provided the employee with equipment to work from home and the employee returns that equipment to the employer when they return to the office, there are no tax implications associated with the return of the equipment (or the employee’s use while working from home).
Employee Returns Flexibly and Retains Employer-provided Homeworking Equipment
Many employer and employees have found working from home beneficial and plan to work more flexibly going forward. Where an employee returns to the workplace some of the time and works from home for the remainder, retaining the homeworking equipment to enable them to do so, there are no tax implications, as long as there is no transfer of ownership and the main purpose of providing the equipment remains to enable the employee to work from home.
Employee Retains Employer-provided Homeworking Equipment for Private Use
When an employee returns to the workplace, they may no longer need to work from home. If the employer does not need the equipment, they may allow the employee to keep it, transferring ownership to the employee.
In these circumstances, a taxable benefit will arise if the employee does not pay for the equipment, or pays less than its market value at the date on which ownership is transferred. The amount charged to tax is the market value at that date, less any employee contribution.
However, there is no taxable benefit if the employee pays at least the market value for the equipment.
Employee Retains Employer-reimbursed Equipment
Surprisingly, there is no taxable benefit if the employee keeps homeworking equipment where they purchased the equipment initially and the employer reimbursed the cost, unless a condition of the reimbursement was that the employee transferred ownership of the equipment to the employer.
Where ownership was not transferred, the equipment is the employee’s, despite the fact the employer ultimately met the cost. Consequently, there is no benefit in kind charge as the employee is simply keeping something they already own. Likewise, if the employee buys their own homeworking equipment and the employer does not reimburse the cost, the equipment is theirs; there is no taxable benefit if they use it privately when they return to the workplace.
However, if ownership was transferred as a condition of reimbursement and the employee retains the equipment when they return to work, such that ownership is transferred back to the employee, a taxable benefit will arise if the employee does not pay the employer the market value of the equipment. The taxable amount is the market value, less any amount paid by the employee to retain the equipment.
| HEALTH & SAFETY
Paul Smith, Editor-in-Chief, Health & Safety Adviser |
Cases Up, More Care Needed: Are Your Safeguards Working?
Since our last bulletin, there have been worrying developments: a rise in cases, problems with testing capacity, and a legally enforceable ban on most social gatherings involving more than 6 people. Although no new restrictions have so far been imposed on employers, it makes sense to audit your own Covid-Secure precautions to make sure both that you have the right safeguards in place and that they are working effectively.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlight a rise in cases, with 39,700 in the community population of England believed to have Covid-19 in the period 30 August to 5 September. The latest report found 0.58 new infections per 10,000 people, equating to around 3,200 new cases per day, with increases especially noticeable in the 17-24 and 25-34 age groups.
In the light of the latest figures, government scientists warn that the ‘R’ number is increasing and urge great caution to prevent case numbers escalating out of control. The government’s headline measure is the ‘Rule of 6’, making mandatory the previous guideline that almost all gatherings should be limited to a maximum of six people. Because this targets social gatherings, though, it does not directly affect workplaces. The underlying assumption is that workplaces will apply ‘Covid-Secure’ guidelines, but new evidence of shortcomings is emerging.
In one embarrassing example, the HSE found its own parent body, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), in contravention. When inspectors checked Covid-19 safeguards at DWP’s Leeds regional hub office, they identified insufficient social distancing and criticised the risk assessment for not addressing potential overcrowding at building entry points. They were also unhappy about:
- Narrow walkways with 2-way pedestrian traffic passing close to occupied working areas;
- Stairwells that were too narrow to allow 2-way traffic while still maintaining social distancing;
- Lack of local sanitiser stations in offices.
The TUC has raised wider concerns, citing an online survey carried out on its behalf by BritainThinks. This found that less than half of workplaces (46%) have enabled safe social distancing and only two-fifths (38%) of workers were aware of their employer’s Covid-Secure risk assessment.
In the light of all these concerns, we are recommending employers take the following actions:
- Check you have the most up-to-date copy of whichever Covid-Secure guidelines apply to you.
- Review your risk assessment and update if necessary. Bear in mind, the purpose of assessing is to identify what safeguards are needed. The document is your record that this has been done, it is not an end in itself!
- Verify that employees, visitors and contractors are aware both of your assessment and the precautions it sets out as needed.
- Check these safeguards are working
The best way to monitor is to go out and (1) look at what happens in practice and (2) ask people whether the measures are working, taking on board any concerns they have. Key things to look for in a check are:
- Work through the ‘precautions’ listed in your risk assessment: is everything mentioned actually in place?
- Look at entry and exit points, is social distancing maintained even at peak times such as first thing in the morning, lunchtime breaks, and at the end of the working day?
- Do you have enough sanitiser/washing facilities and are people using them?
- Where you use sanitisers, is there a system for bottles to be replenished/replaced?
- Are room occupancy levels marked and are people sticking to the limits?
- Are you using screens where appropriate (e.g. reception desks and service counters)?
- Is the more intensive cleaning you set up under Covid-19 still in place, with regular disinfection of all touched surfaces?