Guidance

Examples of how to work out your employee's usual hours (JSS Open)

Published 30 October 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on

The Job Support Scheme, which was due to start on 1 November 2020, has been withdrawn.

© Crown copyright 2020

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-examples-to-help-you-calculate-your-employees-wages-for-the-job-support-scheme/examples-of-how-to-work-out-your-employees-usual-hours-jss-open

Example of working out usual hours for fixed hours where not all days in the pay period are JSS Open days

Ben started working for B Ltd before February 2020, he works 40 hours a week and is paid monthly on the last day of the month. His JSS Open temporary working agreement started on 15 November 2020 and runs to 31 December 2020. B Ltd is preparing to claim for November.

  1. B Ltd identifies that Ben was contracted to work 40 hours a week on 29 February 2020 (the end of the last pay period on or before 19 March) and 40 hours a week on 31 August 2020 (the end of the last pay period on or before 23 September).

  2. Ben’s working pattern is weekly throughout, so B Ltd completes the calculation based on 40 hours a week.

  3. B Ltd divides 40 hours by 7 days in the repeating working pattern: 40 ÷ 7 = 5.71.

  4. B Ltd multiplies the result by 16 JSS Open days in the claim for November: 5.71 × 16 = 91.36.

  5. B Ltd rounds the result to the nearest whole number: 91 hours.

Example of working out usual hours for fixed hours where contracted hours differed in the last pay period on or before 19 March 2020 and in the last pay period on or before 23 September 2020

Charlie started working for C Ltd before February 2020, and is paid monthly on the last day of the month. In April, it was agreed that Charlie would increase his hours and work more flexibly, so his contract was changed from 40 hours a week to 85 hours a fortnight. C Ltd is preparing to claim for December and a JSS Open temporary working agreement was in place for the whole month.

  1. C Ltd identifies that Charlie was contracted to work 40 hours a week at the end of the last pay period on or before 19 March 2020 and 85 hours a fortnight at the end of the last pay period on or before 23 September 2020.

  2. As Charlie’s working pattern changed from weekly to monthly C Ltd must complete Step 3 for both pay periods and take the higher result into Steps 4 and 5.

  3. C Ltd divides 40 hours by 7 days in the first repeating working pattern: 40÷7 = 5.71 and divides 85 hours by 14 days in the second repeating working pattern: 85÷14 = 6.07. C Ltd uses the higher result, 6.07, for Steps 4 and 5.

  4. C Ltd multiples the result by 31 JSS Open days in the claim for December: 6.07 x 31 = 188.17.

  5. The result is 188.17. C Ltd rounds this to the nearest whole number so Charlie’s usual hours for December are 188 hours.

Example of working out usual hours for employees on fixed hours who have permanently reduced their working hours

Daisy works for D Ltd. She was contracted for 40 hours a week until taking partial retirement from 1 May, after which she is contracted for 20 hours a week. This is a permanent contractual variation. She is paid monthly. Daisy’s JSS Open temporary working agreement runs from 10 November to 30 November. D Ltd is preparing to claim for November.

  1. D Ltd identifies that Daisy was contracted for 20 hours per week at the end of the last pay period ending on or before 23 September 2020.

  2. D Ltd divides the number of hours by the number of calendar days in the repeating working pattern. 20÷7=2.86.

  3. D Ltd multiples the result by the number of JSS Open days in the pay period. 2.86x21=60.06.

  4. The result is 60.06 so D Ltd rounds this to the nearest whole number 60 hours.

Example of how to work out the usual hours for a pay period based on the same calendar days in the tax year 2019 to 2020

Edward works variable hours and is paid per calendar month. E Ltd is looking to make a claim for the December 2020 pay period (1 December 2020 to 31 December 2020). Edward has been on a JSS Open temporary working agreement since 1 November 2020.

E Ltd must calculate the number of hours Edward worked on the same calendar days in the tax year 2019 to 2020. E Ltd must use the number of hours worked in the pay period 1 December 2019 to 31 December 2019 because all of its days correspond to JSS Open days in the period 1 December 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Edward worked 142.5 hours between 1 December 2019 and 31 December 2019, so E Ltd rounds this to the nearest whole number and uses 143 hours.

E Ltd must also calculate Edwards’s average working hours in the tax year 2019 to 2020 and his average working hours between 1 February 2020 and 23 September 2020, and use the highest of the 3 results.

Example of how to work out the usual hours based on the hours worked on the same calendar days in the tax year 2019 to 2020, if it includes days from more than one pay period

F Ltd processes a weekly payroll. Faith has worked for the employer since before 6 April 2019.

F Ltd is running the payroll for the pay period 30 November 2020 to 6 December 2020. Faith has been on a JSS Open temporary working agreement since 2 November 2020.

F Ltd follows the steps in the guidance to work out the number of hours worked on the same calendar days in the tax year 2019 to 2020:

  1. F Ltd identifies the pay periods in the 2019 to 2020 tax year that correspond to at least one JSS Open day in the pay period they are calculating for (the JSS Open days are 30 November 2020 to 6 December 2020): the pay period 25 November 2019 to 1 December 2019 – Dianne worked 39 hours in this pay period and the pay period 2 December 2019 to 8 December 2019 – Dianne worked 41.5 hours in this pay period

  2. If only one pay period is identified, and if all its days correspond to JSS Open days in the pay period you are calculating for – use the number of hours the employee actually worked in the identified pay period.This step doesn’t apply because two pay periods were identified in Step 1.

  3. Because step 2 doesn’t apply – F Ltd needs to follow the other steps in the guidance and add together the hours worked in each of the pay periods they’ve identified, in proportion to the number of corresponding days in each pay period. F Ltd starts with the number of hours Faith worked in the first pay period identified in the tax year 2019 to 2020. This is the pay period 25 November 2019 to 1 December 2019. Faith worked 39 hours in this pay period.

  4. F Ltd divides 39 hours by 7 (the number of calendar days in that pay period): 39÷7=5.57.

  5. F Ltd multiplies that result by 2 (the number of calendar days in that pay period which correspond to a JSS Open Day, 30 November 2019 and 1 December 2019): 2x5.57= 11.14 hours. F Ltd repeats steps 1, 2 and 3 for each subsequent identified pay period in the tax year 2019 to 2020.

  6. For the next pay period 2 December 2019 to 8 December 2019: F Ltd starts with 41.5 (the number of hours worked in the pay period 2 December 2019 to 8 December 2019).

  7. F Ltd divides 41.5 hours by 7 (the number of calendar days in that pay period): 41.5÷7=5.93.

  8. F Ltd multiplies that result by 5 (the number of calendar days in that pay period which correspond to an JSS Open Day, 2 December 2020 to 6 December 2020): 5x5.93=29.65 hours.

  9. Then F Ltd adds the all hours for each pay period in the tax year together. 11.14 + 29.65 = 40.79 hours.

  10. F Ltd rounds this to the nearest whole number. The result is therefore 41 hours.

F Ltd must also calculate Faith’s average working hours in the tax year 2019 to 2020 and her average working hours between 1 February 2020 and 23 September 2020, and use the highest of the 3 results.

Example of how to work out the usual hours based on the average number of hours worked in the tax year 2019 to 2020

Guy has worked for G Ltd since before 6 April 2019. Guy is paid every two weeks and began a JSS Open temporary working agreement on 2 November 2020.

G Ltd calculates that Guy worked 1,378 hours between 6 April 2019 and 5 April 2020. This includes any hours that Edward received holiday pay for.

Guy will be paid for the pay period 2 November 2020 to 15 November 2020.

Guy did not take any:

  • statutory sick pay related leave
  • family related statutory leave
  • reduced rate paid leave following a period of statutory sick pay related leave
  • reduced rate paid leave following a period of family related statutory leave

Every day in the pay period 2 November 2020 to 15 November 2020 is an JSS Open day for Guy. Guy works variable hours.

  1. G Ltd identifies the number of hours Guy worked for them in the tax year 2019 to 2020: 1378 hours.

  2. G Ltd divides this by 366 (the number of calendar days Guy was employed by G Ltd in the tax year 2019 to 2020 – including non-working days): 1378÷366=3.77

  3. G Ltd multiplies the result by 14 (the number of JSS Open days in the pay period G Ltd is calculating for): 3.77x14=52.71 hours.

  4. G Ltd rounds to the nearest whole number. The result is therefore 53 hours.

G Ltd must also calculate the number of hours Guy worked in the same period last year and his average working hours between 1 February 2020 and 23 September 2020, and use the highest of the 3 results.

Example of how to work out the usual hours based on the average number of hours worked in the tax year 2019 to 2020 where the employee took a period of statutory leave

Heather started work for H Ltd before 6 April 2019. She works variable hours and is paid every four weeks. She started a JSS Open temporary working agreement on 12 November 2020.

She will be paid for the pay period 23 November 2020 to 20 December 2020. H Ltd is working out how much to pay the Heather for her hours not worked in this pay period and is identifying her usual hours as part of this.

H Ltd calculates that Heather worked 640 hours between 6 April 2019 and 5 April 2020. This includes any hours that she received holiday pay for.

Heather was on a period of statutory adoption leave between 1 June 2019 and 14 January 2020 – this is 228 days.

The number of days between 6 April 2019 and 5 April 2020 is 366 days (inclusive). H Ltd should only include the days where Heather was not on statutory adoption leave, which is 366-228=138 days.

Every day in the pay period 23 November 2020 to 20 December 2020 is a JSS Open day for Heather.

  1. H Ltd identifies the number of hours Heather worked in the tax year 2019 to 2020: 640 hours.

  2. H Ltd divides this by 138: 640÷138=4.64.

  3. H Ltd multiplies this by 28 (the number of JSS Open days in the pay period H Ltd is calculating for): 4.64x28= 129.92 hours.

  4. H Ltd rounds to the nearest whole number. The result is therefore 130 hours.

H Ltd must also calculate the number of hours Heather worked in the same period last year and her average working hours between 1 February 2020 and 23 September 2020, and use the highest of the 3 results.

Example of how to work out the usual hours based on the average hours worked from 1 February 2020 to 23 September 2020

Ibrahim started work for I Ltd on 15 July 2020. He works variable hours and is paid every calendar month. He started a JSS Open temporary working agreement on 2 November 2020.

I Ltd is working out how much to pay Ibrahim for his hours not worked in the December 2020 pay period and is identifying Ibrahim’s usual hours as part of this.

I Ltd calculates that Ibrahim worked 220 hours between 15 July 2020 and 23 September 2020 (inclusive). This includes any hours that he received holiday pay for.

Ibrahim did not take any:

  • statutory sick pay related leave
  • family related statutory leave
  • reduced rate paid leave following a period of statutory sick pay related leave
  • reduced rate paid leave following a period of family related statutory leave

The number of days between 15 July 2020 and 23 September 2020 (inclusive) is 71 days.

Every day in the pay period December 2020 is a JSS Open day for Ibrahim.

  1. I Ltd identifies the number of hours Ibrahim actually worked between 15 July and 23 September: 220

  2. I Ltd divides it by 71 (the number of calendar days Ibrahim was employed by I Ltd in the period including non-working days): 220÷71=3.10.

  3. I Ltd multiplies this by 31 (the number of JSS Open days in the calendar period the employer is calculating for). I Ltd multiplies this by 31 (the number of JSS Open days in the pay period I Ltd is calculating for). 3.10x31= 96.06 hours.

  4. I Ltd rounds to the nearest whole number. The result is 96 hours.

I Ltd must also calculate the number of hours Ibrahim worked in the same period last year and his average working hours in the tax year 2019 to 2020, and use the highest of the 3 results.

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