Rishi Sunak’s ‘Plan for Jobs’ in the Scottish Context

July 20th 2020

Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus

The government will introduce a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the end of January 2021. Payments will be made from February 2021.

Further detail about the scheme will be announced by the end of July. This measure will be applicable throughout the UK.

Apprenticeship Incentives

For England, the government is set to offer incentives to employers from August 2020 until the 31 January 2021, whereby businesses taking on new apprentices will be rewarded with £2,000 for a 16 to 24-year-old and £1,500 for a 25 year-old.

This scheme is not set to be rolled out in Scotland, although there remain in place various incentive schemes to encourage apprenticeship appointments and the information on these can be found on the Apprenticeship Scotland website.

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