Managing risks related to COVID-19
This note is to provide advice to our self-employed site workers to help ensure that we can keep our people safe and our sites open for as long as possible. There are also some notes on support available to self-employed workers from the Government and how to access it.
Clearly these are difficult times and there may come a day when we are asked to go into temporary shut-down, but this would put significant strain on our business and impact all workers. In order to avoid disruption to sites, we are reminding all workers to adhere to the advice below. If someone on site is diagnosed with the virus, not only do you run the risk of infecting co-workers, but it could lead to a site being shut down on a temporary basis – we hope to avoid this scenario if at all possible.
We appreciate that the decision to self-isolate is a particularly difficult decision for those working on self-employed contracts but, where the temptation has traditionally been to “soldier on” through illness, in these unprecedented times, we must ask you to adhere strictly to official advice and ensure that you self-isolate and do not report to site:
- For Seven Days (from the time your symptoms started) if you have any symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild
- For Fourteen Days if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus. In this case then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
This is essential to helping us keep sites open and ensuring we keep as many people working and earning for as long as possible.
Advice on Symptoms
The symptoms to be alert to are:
- cough
- difficulty in breathing
- fever
If you exhibit any of these symptoms, no matter how mild, please follow the advice above.
Avoiding Infection
Public Health England (PHE) recommends that the following general cold and flu precautions are taken to help prevent people from catching and spreading COVID-19:
- cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
- put used tissues in the bin straight away
- wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.
- try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell (wherever possible we ask you to avoid physical contact with and maintain 2m working distance from colleagues at all times)
- clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
- do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
- If you are worried about symptoms, please call NHS 111.
Be vigilant
If you are concerned about the health of a colleague, we ask you not to confront them directly, but to adhere strictly to social distancing recommendations and report to a supervisor who will take proportionate action. Workers exhibiting any of these symptoms will be sent home.
What is Self-Isolation?
The Government has produced advice on self-isolation. It is very important that individuals with symptoms that may be due to coronavirus and their household members stay at home. Staying at home will help control the spread of the virus to friends, the wider community, and particularly the most vulnerable.
Claiming Universal Credit if you are asked to self-isolate
Loss of earnings will clearly be a concern if you are unable to report for work, but the Department for Work and Pensions is making support available to all who are affected by coronavirus. In the Budget it was announced that considering the current pandemic, the self-employed would quicker and easier access to Universal Benefit (from day one) as a direct response to the Coronavirus and any minimum income threshold will be removed. This link below provides access to the basic information and helpline.
You can find information on how to make a claim here: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/
Call the helpline to get help making your claim online.
Universal Credit helpline
Telephone: 0800 328 5644
Textphone: 0800 328 1344
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Other support for businesses – COVID-19
The government announced several financial schemes to support small businesses at this time. Details of all these schemes can be found in the document on the GOV.UK website.
We have highlighted those we think are useful below:
Support for self-employed through the Self-employment Income Support Scheme
The Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) who have lost income due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
This scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed.
The first payment is likely to be made in early June so financial hardship in the meantime should be dealt with by applying for Universal credit.
Eligibility – If you are self-employed you are eligible.
How to access the scheme –This is an automatic offer and will apply to those with average earnings up to £50,000pa.
Support for businesses through deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
The Government will support businesses by deferring Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021.
- VAT
For VAT, the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020.
Eligibility – All UK businesses are eligible.
How to access the scheme – This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period. Taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.
- Income Tax
For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021.
Eligibility – If you are self-employed you are eligible.
How to access the scheme –This is an automatic offer with no applications required.
No penalties or interest for late payment will be charged in the deferral period.
HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities.
Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
The temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will support SMEs with access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million and for up to 6 years.
The government will also make a Business Interruption Payment to cover the first 12 months of interest payments and any lender-levied fees, so smaller businesses will benefit from no upfront costs and lower initial repayments.
The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to pre-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The scheme will be delivered through commercial lenders, backed by the government-owned British Business Bank.
There are 40 accredited lenders able to offer the scheme, including all the major banks.
Eligibility
You are eligible for the scheme if:
- your business is UK based, with turnover of no more than £45 million per year
- your business meets the other British Business Bank eligibility criteria
How to access the scheme
The scheme is now open for applications. All major banks are offering this scheme.
To apply, you should talk to your bank or one of the 40 accredited finance providers (listed on the GOV.UK website as soon as possible, to discuss your business plan. You can find out the latest on the best ways to contact them via their websites. Please note that branches may currently be shut down to enable social distancing.
The full rules of the scheme and the list of accredited lenders are available on the British Business Bank website.
If you have an existing loan with monthly repayments, you may want to ask for a repayment holiday to help with cash flow.
Grants available
The government will provide additional Small Business Grant Scheme funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR), rural rate relief (RRR) and tapered relief. This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to eligible businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs.
Eligibility
You are eligible if:
- your business is based in England
- you are a small business and already receive SBBR and/or RRR
- you are a business that occupies property
How to access the scheme
You do not need to do anything. Your local authority will write to you if you are eligible for this grant. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs and grants should be directed to the relevant local authority.