Government Benefits Megathread

NewRed2

ImAHappyCamper wrote: »

Hi NewRed. Thanks for your reply. I work as a golf course greenkeeper and obviously we are not essential workers but we also need to keep up some maintenance on the course because if we leave it alone for 2 weeks and miraculously we have restrictions lifted on the 19th, we would not be able to have the course in top nick on the 20th so we're in a kind of limbo. There is a meeting between heads of departments on Monday so I'll see how that goes.

Well look I've no idea what your net pay is and I'm not encouraging any fraud here but if your employer lays you off and you have been paying your tax then you're entitled to apply to welfare for 350 per week.

I can't see how yer employer can legally open on Monday so I'd assume you're unemployed now, like most of us. But you need to clarify with your employer are they availing of the wage subsidy scheme or temporarily layimg you off.
If they're using the subsidy then you cannot benefit so lets say you're only earning 200 per week, that's all you'll get unless they volunteer to top it up. It would be best for you if they ask you to aplly for welfare coz that way you'll get 350 even if your net pay was less than that.
I would contact your employer first. Then you go to welfare if they say you're laid off.

NewRed2

Just Saying wrote: »

Why?

If they suffer the drop in turnover they are perfectly entitled to apply.

Yeah this is the type of thing I had heard as well and this is why we had our disagreement earlier.
Its Revenue...... You'll always lose.

splinter65

pearlyone wrote: »

I am on a widows pension but work also . I have been laid off . Does anyone know if I will be entitled to the updated rate or not as I am not sure but think you can only claim one state benefit TiA

Yes you can. If your on a non con widows pension then it will be treated as your income from work and your pension may be reduced as a result.

easypazz

ImAHappyCamper wrote: »

Hi NewRed. Thanks for your reply. I work as a golf course greenkeeper and obviously we are not essential workers but we also need to keep up some maintenance on the course because if we leave it alone for 2 weeks and miraculously we have restrictions lifted on the 19th, we would not be able to have the course in top nick on the 20th so we're in a kind of limbo. There is a meeting between heads of departments on Monday so I'll see how that goes.

In all honesty anybody who turns up at a golf course after this wont expect it to be 100%, if it resembles a soccer pitch they would understand.

Well a few would, but they are the same type who are throwing their toys out of the pram because they cant get eggs etc.

Blueshoe

If I am layed off from work for a few weeks how much do I get?

splinter65

Tinkerbell4484 wrote: »

Is your WFP stopped when you claim the temporary laid off payment?

No. You’re going to keep your WFP for the 6 weeks.

NewRed2

Blueshoe wrote: »

If I am layed off from work for a few weeks how much do I get?

350 a week

splinter65

Blueshoe wrote: »

If I am layed off from work for a few weeks how much do I get?

As long as you were employed above board on the 13 March you will get €350 for 6 weeks.

lord quackinton

Just Saying wrote: »

Why?

If they suffer the drop in turnover they are perfectly entitled to apply.

yes but cash flow has also to be a reason for applying too.
turnover drops 25% plus but employer is cash rich they will expect employer to use his own cash to pay wages,
they will also expect pay cuts to the high paid.

if you go through the full guidelines you will see why most employers will not sign up.
if employers sign up they are inviting trouble on themselves as they will be audited. guaranteed.
this wage subsidy was written by revenue and that is why it will fail to achieve what was meant to.

The wage subsidy should last 12 weeks and all employees including those who have lost their jobs since feb. 1 should receive 80% of their nett wages from the state.
simple as.
would cost billions but it would save several hundred of thousands of jobs.

bizidea

I've a limited company I'm the only employee not an essential service and cant work from home will I be entitled to the covid 19 payment of 350 seeing as I can't work since lockdown thanks

Just Saying

NewRed2 wrote: »

Yeah this is the type of thing I had heard as well and this is why we had our disagreement earlier.
Its Revenue...... You'll always lose.

Revenue have a lot of information at their disposal already...in the instance quoted by the other poster the director would have his remuneration returned to the revenue and taxed as it stands.I could only see an issue if the company claimed the 70% but did not top up the employees pay whilst paying the director his 100k.If that was the case it would attract attention.
The drop in turnover would be readily verifiable by VAT returns etc. so I cant see the issue there.In any event Revenue will be snowed under dealing with the fallout from this so interventions will only be made when red flags are raised by other reasons.

splinter65

bizidea wrote: »

I've a limited company I'm the only employee not an essential service and cant work from home will I be entitled to the covid 19 payment of 350 seeing as I can't work since lockdown thanks

Are you self employed? Have you had to close your business , even temporarily, because of Covid19? If so then yes, you can apply immediately.

Just Saying

lord quackinton wrote: »

yes but cash flow has also to be a reason for applying too.
turnover drops 25% plus but employer is cash rich they will expect employer to use his own cash to pay wages,
they will also expect pay cuts to the high paid.

if you go through the full guidelines you will see why most employers will not sign up.
if employers sign up they are inviting trouble on themselves as they will be audited. guaranteed.
this wage subsidy was written by revenue and that is why it will fail to achieve what was meant to.

The wage subsidy should last 12 weeks and all employees including those who have lost their jobs since feb. 1 should receive 80% of their nett wages from the state.
simple as.
would cost billions but it would save several hundred of thousands of jobs.

As I pointed out earlier cash flow/insolvency is not a prerequisite for applying.The is specifically stated on page 3 of the guidelines as issued on Friday evening on the Revenue website.

lord quackinton

Just Saying wrote: »

As I pointed out earlier cash flow/insolvency is not a prerequisite for applying.The is specifically stated on page 3 of the guidelines as issued on Friday evening on the Revenue website.

i have read the guidelines and it states -
"an employer must be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings FULLY"

thats your cash flow

Just Saying

lord quackinton wrote: »

yes but cash flow has also to be a reason for applying too.
turnover drops 25% plus but employer is cash rich they will expect employer to use his own cash to pay wages,
they will also expect pay cuts to the high paid.

if you go through the full guidelines you will see why most employers will not sign up.
if employers sign up they are inviting trouble on themselves as they will be audited. guaranteed.
this wage subsidy was written by revenue and that is why it will fail to achieve what was meant to.

The wage subsidy should last 12 weeks and all employees including those who have lost their jobs since feb. 1 should receive 80% of their nett wages from the state.
simple as.
would cost billions but it would save several hundred of thousands of jobs.

Please get your facts correct.If you read the thread before posting I highlighted quite clearly that cash flow is NOT a prerequisite for applying for the scheme.

It is crystal clear on the guidelines on the Revenue website that companies who are not experiencing cash flow problems can still apply.

lord quackinton

Just Saying wrote: »

Please get your facts correct.If you read the thread before posting I highlighted quite clearly that cash flow is NOT a prerequisite for applying for the scheme.

It is crystal clear on the guidelines on the Revenue website that companies who are not experiencing cash flow problems can still apply.

again :

i have read the guidelines and it states -
"an employer must be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings FULLY"

thats your cash flow

Just Saying

lord quackinton wrote: »

i have read the guidelines and it states -
"an employer must be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings FULLY"

thats your cash flow

I'll do this slowly so.

Go to Revenue.ie
Look up guidance for Employer eligibility
It is clearly stated at the top of Page 3.

You are quoting from outdated information.

lord quackinton

Just Saying wrote: »

I'll do this slowly so.

Go to Revenue.ie
Look up guidance for Employer eligibility
It is clearly stated at the top of Page 3.

You are quoting from outdated information.

put up a snip of it -

bizidea

splinter65 wrote: »

Are you self employed? Have you had to close your business , even temporarily, because of Covid19? If so then yes, you can apply immediately.

I am employed by my own limited company but I will be unable to work until lockdown is over

Just Saying

Hope this works

lord quackinton

Just Saying wrote: »

Hope this works

i dont want to argue with you but i have detailed guidelines through my work - cant access them now.
read this and see the loopholes revenue have populated through it

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

Heres Johnny

lord quackinton wrote: »

i dont want to argue with you but i have detailed guidelines through my work - cant access them now.
read this and see the loopholes revenue have populated through it

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

I suggest everyone read that, even as a non financial worker a lot of it is understandable. I've read the different iterations of it all week and and have registered for it, on Monday I'm running a payroll for 40 staff under these guidelines. We are giving staff 100% of their wages for this week the next 2 weeks we will be still topping up and paying between 75 and 100% depending on whether someone doesn't work at all (75%) or works a full week (100%). After that, who knows.
It's a long read but see if it answers your questions.

Just Saying

lord quackinton wrote: »

i dont want to argue with you but i have detailed guidelines through my work - cant access them now.
read this and see the loopholes revenue have populated through it

https://revenue.ie/en/employing-people/documents/pmod-topics/guidance-on-operation-of-temporary-covid-wage-subsidy-scheme.pdf

There are obviously many areas that can affect Employers differently.My main point however remains unaltered regarding cash flow/ insolvency not being a prerequisite to applying.

Just Saying

bizidea wrote: »

I am employed by my own limited company but I will be unable to work until lockdown is over

You can apply.

See the link a couple of posts up.

It specifically mentions Directors which I presume you are.You have to have made a submission for yourself between Feb 1st and March 15th I think and comply with a couple of other conditions

na1

The_Brood wrote: »

I am indeed glad that people will receive help, but...I am still working full time, from home now, and I barely get paid more than that weekly. A little bit more, but not by much. While continuing to work full time. That makes a complete mockery of my efforts.

The COVID payments should be proportional to the PRSI contribution. In this scenario, the person earning 350 a week would never get a 350 payment, just some % of ithat amount.
Will this solution solve your problem?

lord quackinton

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I suggest everyone read that, even as a non financial worker a lot of it is understandable. I've read the different iterations of it all week and and have registered for it, on Monday I'm running a payroll for 40 staff under these guidelines. We are giving staff 100% of their wages for this week the next 2 weeks we will be still topping up and paying between 75 and 100% depending on whether someone doesn't work at all (75%) or works a full week (100%). After that, who knows.
It's a long read but see if it answers your questions.

below is the imporant bit:
To qualify for the scheme, employers must
be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, a minimum of a 25% decline in turnover
be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully and
retain their employees on the payroll.

the query we received was could an employer pay VAT for jan/feb and p30 for feb fully - usually 28th of march and apply for this subsidy?
thats the question no can answer.
if an employer did the above will revenue raise issues down the line?
yes, they could and will state "be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully" includes revenue, so the employer should not have paid them but paid the wages and paid revenue down the line.
revenue are very hard to deal with and will look to recover every cent of this wage subsidy

NewRed2

lord quackinton wrote: »

below is the imporant bit:
To qualify for the scheme, employers must
be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, a minimum of a 25% decline in turnover
be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully and
retain their employees on the payroll.

the query we received was could an employer pay VAT for jan/feb and p30 for feb fully - usually 28th of march and apply for this subsidy?
thats the question no can answer.
if an employer did the above will revenue raise issues down the line?
yes, they could and will state "be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully" includes revenue, so the employer should not have paid them but paid the wages and paid revenue down the line.
revenue are very hard to deal with and will look to recover every cent of this wage subsidy

Revenue will also apply tax to these subsidies at end of year, no doubt about it.

na1

AdrianG08 wrote: »

Very unfair.

Those on JSB should be able to avail of higher payment also in this instance. Those losing a job through no fault of their own in the last 3 months are suffering same financial hardship.

Everyones financial circumstances change when they lose a job, and those suffering due to Covid19 should not be getting more than someone who lost a job in Feb of this year for instance (and they have built up sufficient PRSI contributions).

You could have the following ridiculous scenario:

John is 1 month in to a 3 month contract working in a coffee shop (started on 1st March). He is let go 2 weeks later. John can claim €350 due to Covid19.

Sean has worked in a factory for 18 months and is let go in late february, he can only claim €203 (despite having built up the requisite PRSI contributions).

John lost his job because the government told his employer to stop working to avoid spread of the virus. OR the government told his employer's clients to stop purchasing goods from this employer, OR they told the potential customers to stay home -all these orders directly affected John's income. As an attempt to compensate the affect of their orders the government decided to partially subsidize the income losses, which were DIRECT results of the government restrictions.
Sean lost his job because his employer made bad business for some other unrelated reasons. These reasons were not related to the spread of the virus. Why would the state compensate someone's own bad decisions?

Just Saying

lord quackinton wrote: »

below is the imporant bit:
To qualify for the scheme, employers must
be experiencing significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19
be able to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of Revenue, a minimum of a 25% decline in turnover
be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully and
retain their employees on the payroll.

the query we received was could an employer pay VAT for jan/feb and p30 for feb fully - usually 28th of march and apply for this subsidy?
thats the question no can answer.
if an employer did the above will revenue raise issues down the line?
yes, they could and will state "be unable to pay normal wages and normal outgoings fully" includes revenue, so the employer should not have paid them but paid the wages and paid revenue down the line.
revenue are very hard to deal with and will look to recover every cent of this wage subsidy

Seriously??? Did you not read the page 3 of the link I gave you.It could not be clearer.

splinter65

bizidea wrote: »

I am employed by my own limited company but I will be unable to work until lockdown is over

Apply now online if you can.