Business & Employee Assistance Terms (or BEAT) scheme is available to employers with inactive employees and self-employed individuals from relevant sectors that have been affected by the restrictions on economic activity and free movement of people.The scheme provides direct financial support so employers can retain their staff and pay them a salary at a fixed rate, based on the BEAT COVID-19 rate.

Employers should only apply in respect of their “inactive employees”, that is registered employees that they have sent home and are not working for the whole of that calendar month. The employer would be able to pay their inactive employees either 50% of their salary or the BEAT COVID rate, whichever is the higher.That rate will be £1,155 per month for a full-time employee and any fraction thereof for those who work less than full time. The minimum amount of a BEAT COVID-19 Payment for the month of April 2020 shall be £300.

The measures will also apply to the self-employed, part-time employees, those on zero-hour contracts and agency workers. The payments for these individuals are based on an average of the hours they worked in the first two and a half months of this year and any other relevant information that may have been included on the application form.