FINANCIAL BOOST FOR RESERVISTS AND THEIR EMPLOYERS

From today, new rules coming into effect will provide greater financial assistance to employers and self-employed Reservists.  The rules also limit the maximum assistance available to individual, non-specialist members of the Reserve Forces who are mobilised. 

Changes to current legislation incorporate the requests of employers of Reservists made as part of a consultation exercise last year.  They will ensure that financial costs incurred by employers and their reservists as a result of mobilisation are minimised.
The enhanced financial assistance package for employers includes handover, clothing and training costs awards as well as one off recruitment advertising costs.  Employers of mobilised reservists can now claim:

• Five days of handover and five days takeover costs before an employee is mobilised and when they return to work (capped at a Reservist’s daily rate of pay and £110 per day);
• Up to 75 per cent of the costs up to a maximum of £300 of providing specialist clothing for a person replacing a Reservist who is deployed;
• Up to £2000 of the costs of training the person who fills in for the Reservist during their mobilisation.  The award also applies if additional training is needed for the Reservist on their return to work.

In addition, self-employed Reservists will now be able to claim for up to £2000 of some expenses incurred when they choose to stop trading as a result of mobilisation.

The cap on payments to non-specialist Reservists made to mitigate loss of income during mobilisation is being reduced from £548 per day to £400 per day.

The process of claiming for financial support is being improved.  To make claiming easier and payouts faster, a new downloadable claim form for employers and self-employed Reservists is being introduced.  Download the form here.  

Athene Gordon, Regional Campaign Director for SaBRE (Support for Britain’s Reservists and Employers), welcomed today’s announcement, saying, 

“I know that Northern Ireland’s employers, large and small, will be heartened to see this positive and practical response to the views they expressed during the recent consultation process.   The business community here already recognizes the significant contribution which Reservists make in civilian life through their can-do attitudes, top skills, physical fitness and disciplined commitment, but this financial assistance will be a major plus.  This enhanced package is great news not only for businesses across Northern Ireland, but also for our many self-employed Reservists.”

For further info:

Contact SaBRE

Tel: 02890 664902 Fax: 02890 662809 

email: [email protected] or visit: www.sabre.mod.uk.

Notes:

• The new regulations amend the Reserve Forces (Call-Out and Recall) (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2005 (SI2005/859).  The changes are provided by Statutory Instrument 2015/460, which comes into effect on 27 March 2015.  Full details here.

• The amendments follow a review which was a commitment in the 2013 Reserves White Paper and subsequently a consultation exercise which concluded in December 2014.