On 18 March 2022, the Government announced that a new round of the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) would be launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESS scheme provides employers with the financial support needed to retain employees who may have otherwise have been made redundant. Similar to the first and second tranches of the prior round, wage subsidies will be provided for a period of 3 months from May to July 2022. The Government has indicated that employers’ eligibility will depend on whether their industry or business sector was adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chief Executive noted that this would exclude businesses such as supermarket chains, pharmacy chains, property management companies, banks and financial institutions, delivery services and telecommunications firms. However, no further details on which industries will be eligible have been announced.
The specific details are still unknown but the Government has mentioned that it aims to open the application process in April 2022. Read more about it here.
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Employment law 5 in 5: March 2025
Five developments to read for March in less than five minutes.
