Coronavirus Business Legal Help

What reliefs are available for small businesses?

There are several reliefs available for small businesses based in England.

Under the Small Business Grant Fund all businesses based in England that are eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief as of 11 March, will be eligible for a grant of £10,000.

Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant, businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, which are based in England, may be eligible for a cash grant of up to £25,000 if the business has a rateable value of less than £51,000. Businesses with:

• a rateable value up to £15,000 will be eligible for a cash grant of £10,000 

• a rateable value over £15,000 but less than £51,000 will be eligible for a cash grant of £25,000 

Nurseries and businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors (which are based in England) may also be eligible for a business rates holiday. For more information on eligibility, visit the GOV.UK guidance on the Expanded Retail Discount and Nursery Discount.

VAT payments have been deferred until the end of June and will not have to be repaid until the end of the financial year.

All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress and with outstanding tax liabilities may also be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC's Time to Pay Service.

 

What loans are available to support small businesses?

The Business Interruption Loan Scheme will provide small to medium businesses with a loan of upto £5 million with no interest for the first twelve months. This loan can be used to pay for rent, salaries, suppliers or purchase stock. 

A number of private lenders are also making funds available to small businesses impacted by COVID-19, including £2 billion from Lloyds Banking Group, £5 billion from NatWest and £7 billion from Barclays

The scheme will be delivered through 40 accredited lenders (including all major banks) and will be available from the end of April.  For more information on the eligibility requirements and application process visit the Government website.

The Coronavirus Bounce Bank Loan scheme will help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) borrow between £2,000 and £50,000. The loan terms will be up to 6 years with no repayments due during the first 12 months. The government has worked with lenders to agree on a 2.5% interest rate for the remaining period of the loan. For more information on the eligibility requirements and application process visit the Government website.

Any business that has already taken out a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan of up to £50,000 can apply to have these to be switched over under the Bounce Back Loan scheme until 4 November 2020.

Is my business covered by my insurance policy?

If you have a business insurance policy that covers pandemics and government-ordered closure, you should be able to make an insurance claim against that policy. The government and insurance industry confirmed on 17 March 2020 that advice to avoid pubs, theatres etc is sufficient to make a claim.

Insurance policies differ significantly, so businesses are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of their specific policy and contact their providers. Most businesses are unlikely to be covered, as standard business interruption insurance policies are dependent on damage to property and will exclude pandemics.

Contact your insurance provider to check whether your business is covered. It might be that you would not be covered under current guidance, but could be covered if the guidance from the government changes or the situation escalates.

What policies should employers have in place now? 

Make sure you have adequate policies in place so that employees know how you are dealing with sickness, working from home and health and safety. You can make a health and safety policy, working from home (also known as a flexible working policy) and sickness policy with Rocket Lawyer. If you need to make redundancies or dismiss employees it is advisable to have these policies in place and to follow ACAS guidelines. Ask a lawyer for workforce reduction advice or make your Redundancy policy with Rocket Lawyer.

 

Can we insist on employees to self-isolate?

Employers have a duty to protect the health and safety of their workers. This could extend to insisting on self-isolation for a recommended period, particularly if individuals have returned from a high-risk area defined by the FCO, regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms. The decision to require self-isolation should not be discriminatory, and should be carried out with the rationale of protecting the health and safety of the wider workforce. Staff may or may not be able to work from home during this period, depending on the extent of any symptoms and/or the nature of their role.

Requiring someone to self-isolate may be in breach of the employment contract, but if the rationale for such action is to protect the health and safety of the wider workforce and/or in response to UK government guidance, then the employer’s duty in respect of health and safety is likely to triumph.

 

Is an employer responsible for employees’ health and safety whilst they are working from home? 

An employer is responsible for protecting the health and safety of employees working from home. It’s good practice  for the employees themselves to conduct a self-assessment of the risks associated with working from home. The assessment must identify the hazards that may harm those working without supervision and employers must find ways to manage these risks in order to comply with health and safety rules. 

Where the employee is a new or expectant mother, the employer must also account for risks to the child in addition to those to the mother. Where equipment is provided by the employer as part of the employee’s work, the employer is only responsible for the equipment supplied. 

Employers should provide appropriate training and supervision and keep in contact with employees regularly while they work from home. It is also crucial for employers to inform employees of their health and safety policies and employees must cooperate with their employers on these rules and report all employment-related hazards. Read Health and safety for employees working from home during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis for more information. 

Create your Temporary working from home policy with Rocket Lawyer.

 

When should employees and workers return to work?

For the foreseeable future, workers should continue to work from home rather than their

normal physical workplace, wherever possible.

From the 13 May all workers who cannot work from home should travel to work if their workplace is open. Businesses that are allowed to be open (for example, food production, construction, manufacturing, logistics, distribution and scientific research in laboratories) should be open. Workers and employees of such businesses should attend their workplace.

Where a worker has Covid-19 symptoms (however mild) or someone in their household has symptoms of Covid-19, then the worker should not leave their house to go to work. Such workers (along with their household) should self-isolate and not return to work.

When travelling to work, workers should avoid public transportation where possible. Workers whose workplaces are open should choose to cycle, walk or drive, to minimise the number of people with whom they come into close contact. If taking public transportation, social distancing guidelines must be complied with (eg all people should be at least 2 metres apart). 

Similarly, individuals are encouraged to wear a face-covering (eg a cloth face mask) in enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible (eg on public transport).

Do we need to pay employees if they are absent from work?

If an employee is prevented from working because they are genuinely unwell or sick, then the company's normal sickness policy should apply.

If you have asked your workforce not to come to work but to work from home, they should also be paid as normal.

Where an individual is not unwell but is prevented from working because they are, for example, in self-isolation, quarantine, or stranded abroad, or they have otherwise been advised to stay at home as a result of medical or UK government advice and are unable to work remotely, there is no legal right to be paid for the time off. However ACAS and the Secretary of State for Health have advised such absence to be treated as sick leave under the company’s sick pay policy.

Statutory sick pay (SSP) will be payable to eligible workers, although the UK government has announced a series of measures to relax the ordinary rules in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. New legislation has been passed allowing SSP to be paid from the first day of absence (instead of day four) in certain circumstances. For this to be the case, an employee must be unable to work either because they have coronavirus or because they are self-isolating and:

• they must be eligible for SSP

• their first day of sickness absence must be on/after the 13 March 2020

• they must be off work for more than 4 consecutive days

Small employers (those with under 250 employees) will be able to recover SSP from the UK government for up to 14 days per person under the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme.

The UK government also announced that Employment Support Allowance (ESA) will be available to the self-employed, and to workers whose earnings are too low to be eligible for SSP, if they are affected by Covid-19 or self-isolating due to UK government advice. ESA rules have also been relaxed so that payment is from day one of absence (instead of day eight), and to remove the need to attend a jobcentre to claim.

You may want to consider a temporary enhancement to company sickness policy in order to incentivise people to remain off work, as insufficient sick pay provision risks individuals reporting for work. Any such changes should be kept under review and adapted as circumstances change.

 

What is the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme?

The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will enable employers to reclaim SSP which they pay to current or former employees for periods of sickness starting on/after the 13 March 2020. Employers will be eligible for this scheme if they:

• are claiming for an employee who’s eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus

• had a PAYE payroll scheme that was created and started on or before 28 February 2020

• had fewer than 250 employees on 28 February 2020

Employees can be on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.

Where an employer pays more than the statutory rates of SSP (‘enhances’ or ‘contractual’ sick pay) they can only claim for the current rate amount.

Repayments under this scheme will cover up to two weeks of sickness, starting from the first day of sickness, provided that the employee was unable to work because:

• they have coronavirus; or

• they are isolating at home

Employees do not have to provide a doctor’s fit note for employers to make a claim.

The online service through which to reclaim SSP is not yet available.

 

Can I make staff redundant?

It may not always be appropriate to make staff redundant completely.

You may wish to adopt flexible measures instead, for example short-time (a reduction in hours) and lay-off working, or furloughing your employees. If you do need to make redundancies ensure to follow the correct procedure. For further information and to make redundancy letters read Redundancies . Alternatively, Ask a lawyer for workforce reduction advice. 

 

What does lay-off mean?

Lay-off is when an employer takes an employee off work and off pay for at least one working day. It is used as a response to lack of work, and as an alternative to making redundancies. For more information, read Lay-offs and short time working.

Check your employment contracts to see whether you are allowed to implement short-time and lay-off working. If they are currently not in the employment contract, you can get the employee's express consent to vary or change the contract to allow for lay-offs. You can use a Change to employment terms letter for this purpose. For further information read Changing employment terms.

There is a statutory scheme for lay-offs, but usually a lay-off clause in the employment contract is required in order to implement this or with the consent of the employee.

 

How long can an employee be laid off for?

There’s no limit for how long an employee can be laid off or put on short-time. An employee could apply for voluntary redundancy and claim redundancy pay if it’s been:

• 4 weeks in a row
• 6 weeks in a 13-week period

 

What is the lay-off pay entitlement and short-time working payments?

Employees should get full pay unless the contract allows unpaid or reduced pay lay-offs.

If the lay-off is unpaid, employees are usually entitled to guarantee pay.

 

What is short-time working?

Short-time working is similar to lay-off, but rather than providing no work, the employer provides some, reduced, work. Less than half a normal week's work and pay will trigger the statutory short-time working protections for employees, subject to eligibility requirements.

A statutory 'guarantee payment' is payable to employees, subject to certain requirements. The maximum payment is £29 per day for up to five 'workless' days in any three-month period, so a total maximum of £145. Part-time payments are calculated pro rata.

An employer could choose to pay more.

For further information read Lay-offs and short time working.

 

Can I make employees take annual leave?

You are entitled to give notice to staff to take annual leave, provided there is no agreement to the contrary (eg in the employment contract). Notice must be at least twice as long as the period of leave you require them to take, eg if you require an employee to take 1 week's annual leave, you must give them at least 2 weeks' advance notice.

 

Can I ask employees to volunteer for unpaid leave or redundancy?

If you wish for employees to take periods of unpaid leave, their consent is required unless their employment contract contains a clause allowing you to place them on unpaid leave.

While it is not always appropriate to make staff redundant completely, you may wish to seek out staff who are willing to take redundancy voluntarily. 

You cannot just offer voluntary redundancy to age groups eligible for an early retirement package - this could constitute discrimination. However, an early retirement package (for certain age groups) could be one element of a voluntary redundancy offer open to all staff. For more information read Redundancy.

 

Can I reduce my employee's pay?

Employers will need to consult with staff to obtain their express agreement to these measures where the employment contract does not contain any relevant contractual flexibility clauses or short-time working clauses. You can consider using a Furlough agreement letter to employees for this purpose. For further information read Furlough, workforce reduction and managing employees.

You should note that the government will support employees by providing an emergency wage package rescue plan called the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

 

Can I ask employees to temporarily leave their employment?

To minimise the need for redundancies, you could ask your employees to 'furlough' their employment (i.e. take a leave of absence) and reduce their pay (by no more than 20%). You can consider using a Furlough agreement letter to employees for this purpose.

This means that you won't be providing such employees with work, but can continue to pay them through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This ensures employees are kept on the payroll and not laid-off.

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, once your employees have agreed to being furloughed, you would need to provide a written confirmation of their employment status. Make a Furlough leave confirmation letter to do this. 

 

What is the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme?

This scheme is to help employers pay employee wages. Employers will be able to contact HMRC to cover 80% of retained (or ‘furloughed’) workers salary up to a maximum of £2,500 a month in addition to the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage. Employers can choose to fund the difference between this payment and employee salaries, but do not have to. To be furloughed, employees can be on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts. Apprentices can also be furloughed.

For further information read Furlough, workforce reduction and managing employees.

The scheme will cover the costs of wages backdated to the 1 March 2020 and will continue until the end of October 2020.

The Scheme will close to new entrants on the 30 June. From the 30 June, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3 week period prior to the 30 June. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be the 10 June. Employers will have until the 31 July to claim for funds under the Scheme in respect of those furloughed before the 30 June.

From July onwards, employers will be able to recall their furloughed employees part-time under the scheme (alo called ‘flexible furloughing’). Employers will have to pay their employees for the hours they’ve worked while the scheme will cover their normal hours not worked (ie their furloughed days).

New measures have also been introduced to ensure that the scheme remains sustainable by sharing its costs with participating employers. While furloughed employees will continue to receive 80% of their current salary (up to a maximum of £2,500), in August, employers will be asked to cover the National Insurance and pension contributions. From September the Government will pay 70% of wages (up to a maximum of £2,187.50). Employers will be expected to cover the National Insurance and pension contributions and make a 10% contribution to the furlough pay. From October the Government will pay 60% of wages (up to a maximum of £1,875). Employers will be expected to cover the National Insurance and pension contributions and make a 20% contribution to the furlough pay.

 

How to claim for 80% of wages?

To be able to claim 80% of wages you have to be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. To be eligible you must have:

• created and started a PAYE payroll scheme on or before 19 March 2020

• enrolled for PAYE online 

• a UK bank account

You'll need to make a claim via HMRC's online portal, from the 20 April 2020. Once you're able to make a claim:

• use the amounts in your payroll 

• if appropriate, reduce employees' wages to 80% of their salary before they are paid

Please note that workers need to be furloughed for a minimum of 3 weeks for you to be able to claim under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

 

How can I recall a furloughed worker?

You should use a Recall an employee from furlough letter to inform a furloughed employee that they are to return to work. This letter informs a furloughed employee when their furlough period will come to an end and when they are expected to resume working.

You should provide a furloughed employee with ‘reasonable notice’ to return to work, to allow employees to make any necessary arrangements (eg child care arrangements).

 

Can employees on furlough take holiday?

Staff members can take annual leave while furloughed. Statutory annual leave continues to accrue as normal during a period of lay-off or furlough. This is because the contract of employment will continue to be in existence during this period. Contractual annual leave above the statutory minimum (the 5.6 weeks of holiday required by the law) will also continue to accrue, unless the contract specifically provides otherwise. For example, if an employee’s contract says that they are entitled to 7 weeks’ holiday, the employer and employee can agree to (temporarily) reduce that to 5.6 weeks.

Furloughed members of staff can request and take their holiday in the usual way, if their employer agrees. This includes bank holidays. Furloughed workers must get their usual pay in full, for any holiday they take, unless agreed otherwise (eg if the employer and employee have previously agreed to reduce the employee's pay while on furlough). Employers are able to claim 80% of salary paid on holiday days as taking holiday does not break the furlough period. This means that for holiday days taken by a furloughed worker, the employer must typically top up the 80% salary paid under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme so that the employee is paid 100% of their salary.

 

Are furloughed employees entitled to holiday on bank holidays?

If the bank holiday is a day's holiday under the employment contract, then the furloughed staff is entitled to the holiday. The furloughed staff should be paid 100% of their wage for that day.

Alternatively, employers may agree to grant a day of holiday in lieu (ie grant the employee an additional day of holiday in place of the bank holiday). If the employment contract states that bank holidays form part of the usual holiday entitlement, employers will need the employee’s consent to grant a day in lieu. 

 

Will workers on zero hour contracts be paid if they are asked to self-isolate?

If a zero-hours worker earns over a certain average per week then they will be entitled to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) when told to self-isolate. Those zero-hours workers who currently do not meet the minimum earning requirements for SSP, will not be eligible for SSP unless further legislation is introduced, unless the employer pays them voluntarily.

For further information on calculating SSP, read How to calculate statutory sick pay for zero hours workers.

 

When will employees be paid statutory sick pay (SSP)?

Historically, SSP was not paid for the first three days of illness. The UK Government has passed new legislation allowing for SSP payment from day one of absence, for those unable to work as a result of being advised to self-isolate or because they have coronavirus. Additionally, in order for SSP to be payable from the first day of absence, employees:

• must be eligible for SSP
• their first day of sickness absence must have been on/after the 13 March 2020
• must be off work for more than 4 consecutive days

 

Are self-employed individuals entitled to sick pay?

Generally, employees are entitled to sick pay while self-employed individuals are not. This is because sick pay is paid by an employer. However, the Government intends to make it easier for self-employed individuals affected by Covid-19, to access benefits.

Those individuals on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who are suffering from Covid-19 or are required to self-isolate, will be able to claim the allowance from day one, instead of having to wait for seven days.

Further, the minimum income floor has been temporarily removed from Universal Credit for self-employed individuals who have to self-isolate as a result of coronavirus. The minimum income floor is an assumed level of income, which takes into account how much an individual would normally be expected to earn in a month, when calculating their entitlement to Universal Credit. Not having this minimum income floor in place, means that self-employed individuals will be able to claim for time they spend off work due to sickness.

Self-employed individuals in need of financial assistance will be able to apply for Universal Credit over the phone, without the need of attending a jobcentre. 

Self-employed individuals who do not have enough money to live on while they wait for their first Universal Credit payment, can ask for an advance payment. This can be done online or through their Jobcentre Plus work coach. To apply, individuals will need to:

• explain why they need an advance

• verify their identity (either when they apply online or during their first phone appointment with the work coach)

• provide bank account details for the advance

For more guidance visit the Government website.

 

Is financial support available for self-employed individuals struggling because of Covid-19?

The Government has announced assistance for self-employed individuals affected by Covid-19, through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

This scheme allows self-employed individuals to claim a grant for 80% of their profits (paid in one lump sum) for the next three months, capped at £7,500. You can apply for this scheme if you are self-employed or a member of a partnership and you:

• have submitted your Income Tax Self Assessment for the tax year 2018 - 2019

• traded in the tax year 2019 - 2020

• are trading when you apply (or would be, if not for COVID-19)

• intend to continue trading in the tax year 2020- 2021

• have lost trading/partnership trading profit due to COVID-19

In addition, more than half of your income must be through self-employment and your profits from this self-employment must be less than £50,000 per year.

The amount of relief you will be entitled to, will be  80% of the average profits from the previous three tax years (where applicable). This amount will then be capped at £2,500 per month and will be paid directly into your bank account in one lump sum.

Where you have not yet returned your Self Assessment tax return for the tax year 2018 - 2019, you have until April 23 2020 to do so.

You can now apply to the scheme using the Government’s portal. If you are eligible for the scheme, HMRC will contact you once applications open. If you are eligible and want to make a claim for the first grant, then you have to make your claim on or before the 13 July 2020.

The scheme was extended on 29 May and applications for the second grant will open in August. This will be a lump-sum payment to cover 70% of your average monthly profit (up to £6,570) to cover 3 months’ worth of income. You cannot currently apply for the second grant. More information is expected shortly.

For more information read the Government’s guidance, Claim a grant through the coronavirus (COVID-19) Self-employment Income Support Scheme.

 

I’m struggling to meet my Self-Assessment payments on account. Is help available?

If you’re due to pay a self-assessment payment on account by 31 July 2020 but won't be able to make the payment by that date due to Covid-19, then you may defer payment until January 2021. To defer these payments, you don't need to make an application.

During the deferral period, you can set up a budget payment plan to help you pay the deferred payment on account when it comes due. You can set up a payment plan by either setting one up online (via the GOV.UK website) or calling the Payment Support Service:

Payment Support Service

Telephone: 0300 200 3835

Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm

My employee is on holiday in a place which has closed its borders. What do I do?

If employees have been unable to return from holiday, you could choose to pay them (on a one-off discretionary basis), or ask them to take the time as annual leave or unpaid leave. You should treat employees consistently or you may risk discrimination claims.

 

Can we stop employees taking personal travel?
Generally, you can't prevent people from travelling for personal reasons, however you should remind employees of the current UK government guidance and ask employees to comply with any travel advice. The FCO and the UK government have advised against all non-essential travel.

An alternative is to make clear that if they have to go into quarantine/self-isolation on their return, and remote working is not possible, extra time off will be unpaid unless they take it as paid holiday.

As with business travel, you should consider requiring individuals to inform you about when and where they have travelled, and to keep you updated of their personal travel plans so that you can continue to monitor risk and act accordingly.

Do I still need to fulfil my contractual obligations during the pandemic?

Check to see whether the contracts containing your obligations have a force majeure clause. You may be able to rely on this clause in certain circumstances. The purpose of a force majeure clause is to excuse a party (i.e. allow a party to 'get off the hook') from performance of a contract following the occurrence of an event beyond the reasonable control of the parties which prevents contractual performance or make it impossible.

Common examples of defined force majeure events are wars, strikes, natural disasters and government actions.

To rely on a force majeure clause will depend on 

• If the clause in your contract is drafted and interpreted in a way where disruptive events linked to COVID-19 constitute a force majeure event. Some clauses in some contracts may expressly cover pandemics and epidemics, but not all of them will. Ask a lawyer if you need help interpreting your force majeure clauses. 

• If there is a causal link between the unexpected event (or the event which is beyond the reasonable control of the relevant party) and that party’s delay or failure to perform the contract. 

• The circumstances, including the list of events, the effect that the relevant event has on a party’s ability to perform a contract, and also the specific consequences on each party’s contractual responsibility when that event occurs. 

Some force majeure clauses may also require that steps to reduce the risk of the effects of the unexpected event have been taken, or that written notice is given. 

Triggering a force majeure clause may not lead to a right to terminate the contract, but simply a right to delay performance by the duration of the unexpected event.

Make your force majeure contract termination letter with Rocket Lawyer or Ask a lawyer if you need help interpreting your force majeure clauses.

I'm a commercial tenant. Do I still have to pay rent?

Ask your landlord for a rent concession, i.e. a more flexible arrangement, such as a rent holiday, payment of reduced rent or monthly payments. Landlords do not have to agree to this, but it is worth trying to reach an agreement. Landlords may be more likely to agree to a rent concession in the current climate.

You could also consider making a rent repayment plan with your landlord so you formally document when any unpaid paid rent will be paid.

If your landlord does agree to a rent concession, make sure this is documented, for example, in a deed of variation, which permanently changes the commercial lease.

The government has announced that commercial tenants who cannot pay their rent will be protected from eviction for 3 months. These measures will be included in the emergency Coronavirus Bill. The commercial tenant will still be liable for the rent after this period. 

 

I'm a commercial landlord. What can I do if a tenant cannot pay their rent?

The government has announced that commercial tenants will be protected from eviction for 3 months. However the commercial tenant will still be liable for the rent after this period. 

If you do decide you are willing to offer the tenant a rent concession, you should document any such agreement in a side letter which sets out the changes and for how long it will last as a temporary arrangement. You can also make a rent repayment plan which sets out when your tenant will pay back any unpaid rent.

How have insolvency rules been relaxed? 

The UK Government has announced two measures to help  protect businesses during the pandemic. 

1. Temporary suspension of the wrongful trading rules

This means that directors won’t be held personally liable for failing to minimise losses where they knew (or ought to have known) that the business would go into liquidation or administration. This measure will be applied retrospectively from 1 March 2020. Other rules regarding directors remain in force, for example, the rules on disqualifying directors. For more information on wrongful trading read Insolvency.

2. Fast-track of reforms to restructuring procedures

The government plans to fast-track proposals to reform restructuring procedures. These include legislation to bind dissenting creditors to a new restructuring plan, reforms that allow companies undergoing a rescue or restructure to continue trading and buy essential supplies and giving companies in financial difficulty breathing space, i.e. a 'moratorium' to help them avoid insolvency.

For more information on the insolvency process read Insolvency.

 

What’s the insolvency process?

Insolvency is a general term which can apply to both individuals and companies. Limited companies which become insolvent may be put into liquidation (also known as "winding-up"). This will result in the cessation of trading, the sale of any assets to pay creditors and being struck off from the companies register. There are three types of liquidation, which of these will apply to you will depend on your individual circumstances. For more information read Insolvency.

To close a limited company because of insolvency (i.e. where a company cannot pay their bills or where a company’s liabilities exceeds its assets), a Creditors’ Voluntary Liquidation must be used. For more information on the process, read Closing a limited company.

Can I reopen my retail business?

From the 15 June all non-essential retailers (eg. department stores and small independent shops) can reopen in England, provided that they have social distancing measures in place. For more information read the Government guidance on Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) for shops and branches.

From the 1 June outdoor markets and car showrooms can reopen in England, provided that they are ‘Covid-secure’.

Pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, hotels and cinemas will open from the 4 July at the earliest, provided they can meet social distancing measures. However, indoor public spaces (eg beauty salons) may not be able to reopen in July as social distancing may be difficult.

More guidance for businesses is expected shortly.

 

Can I return to work if I work in other people’s homes?

You’re allowed to return to work if you need to enter someone else’s home for your job (eg if you are a plumber or a cleaner).

Please note that you should not carry out work in the homes of people who are shielding or isolating because of Covid-19 symptoms, unless it's a household emergency.

In homes where someone is clinically vulnerable (eg where a person is aged over 70) face-to-face contact should be avoided, and strict hygiene rules followed.

For more information read the Government guidance on Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) for working in other people's homes.

 

Can I return to work if I work as a childminder, nanny or at a nursery?

In England, childminders and nannies can now return to work provided that they are caring for children who come from the same household. 

From the 1 June nurseries in England will start to reopen.

For more information read the Government guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19): implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings.