The Revenue Wage Subsidy Scheme has come under some heavy fire by employment law experts for its lack of clarity surrounding key details.
The Scheme itself, which can be read in full here:
https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx
aims to assist those businesses worst hit so far by the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, it would appear to be peppered by requirements that may put employers in breach of both company and employment law.
There is no ‘one answer’ to suit every business and ESA would strongly recommend that you contact us to discuss this scheme within the context of the specific needs of your business.
Generally, the problems lie with:
- The very broadly defined ‘turnover’ qualification;
- Uncertainty around the comparison period;
- The potential requirement for a business to be insolvent to avail of it, which clouds the area of wage ‘top-ups’;
- The fact that Revenue will publish the names of businesses that avail of the scheme.
If you wish to avail of the scheme however you can use the link below:
https://www.gov.ie/en/service/578596-covid-19-wage-subsidy/
Once you have applied Revenue will contact you to make sure that your business meets the requirements, which should assist companies as they could potentially rely on this to show that they acted in good faith.
Importantly, if your business was having trading difficulties before the pandemic and if it was considering redundancies/lay-off before the pandemic we would urge caution before applying for the scheme.
If you would like to discuss how this might apply to your business with a consultant please contact us on 01 8774608 or [email protected].
Stay safe and wash your hands!