Level 5: Increases to Employer & Employee Wage Supports

On 19 October 2020, the Irish government decided that, as of midnight on Wednesday 21 October 2020, the whole country will be placed on Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, with a small number of exceptions, for a period of six weeks. Only essential retail and essential services will remain open. 

As a result of the closure of businesses, many employees will need to be placed on temporary lay-off or short-time working. Given the impact of this on individuals, families and businesses across the country, the government announced the amendment of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the Employee Wage Subsidy Scheme to reflect these challenges. These amendments relate to the level of payments available. These and other details are outlined in our table of employer and employee supports.

For further information on this topic please contact any member of the ALG Employment Team.

Date published: 20 October 2020