The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme

The EWSS (Employment Wage Subsidy scheme) runs from the 1 September 2020 until 30 April 2022, with the scheme closing to new entrants from 1 January 2022.

The four rates will be reduced to two rates of €151.50 and €203 from 1 December 2021 until 28 February 2022.

A flat-rate payment of €100 will apply for March and April 2022.
In addition, the reduced Employers’ PRSI will end on 28 February 2022.

The rates used for the scheme were updated on 20 October 2020. Make sure you calculate payments using the subsidy levels set out below

Subsidy levels up to and including 19th October 2020

Employee earnings	Level of subsidy
More than €203 but less than €1462 gross per week	€203
Between €151.50 and €202.99 gross per week	€151.50
Less than €151.50 or more than €1,462 gross per week	€0

Subsidy levels from 20th October 2020

Employee earnings	Level of subsidy
Between €400 and €1,462 gross per week	€350
Between €300 and €399.99 gross per week	€300
Between €203 and €299.99 gross per week	€250
Between €151.50 and €202.99 gross per week	€203
Less than €151.50 or more than €1,462 gross per week	€0

Am I eligible?

To qualify for the new scheme you must be able to demonstrate that in the majority of cases you are operating at no more than 70% in either your turnover or customer orders received for the following periods:

• 1 July to 31 December 2020 for 2020 pay dates

• 1 January to 30 June 2021 for January to June 2021 pay dates

The reduction in turnover should be calculated as an average for the whole of each period and should be compared with the same period in 2019.

Seasonal and new hires are eligible, and claims can be backdated to 1 July 2020 (subject to limited exceptions). Employers can complete a Sweepback template providing details for each eligible employee. From 15 September 2020, the completed templates can then be uploaded to ROS via a new facility in Employer Services.

For the Sweepback template and full details of all the criteria, visit the Revenue website:

https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/employment-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

How do I register?

If you are eligible for the scheme, you must sign a declaration via Revenue’s Online System (ROS) to register for the scheme.

To do this:

1. Log into ROS and select Manage Tax Registrations.

   

2. On the next page scroll down to the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme - EWSS and select Register then Confirm.

   

3. Select your Registration Date and Related Employer Number then Add To Your Requests.

   

4. Select Submit to Sign and Submit your request and finalise your registration.

   

To register, you must have Tax Clearance to receive subsidy payments.

The level of subsidy you receive is per paid employee:

Employee earnings	Level of subsidy
Between €400 and €1,462 gross per week	€350
Between €300 and €399.99 gross per week	€300
Between €203 and €299.99 gross per week	€250
Between €151.50 and €202.99 gross per week	€203
Less than €151.50 or more than €1,462 gross per week	€0

Employer PRSI

A 0.5% rate of Employer PRSI still applies for employments that are eligible for the subsidy, this is expected to work as follows:

• PRSI will be calculated as normal via payroll e.g. on PRSI class A1.
• Revenue will calculate a PRSI credit by calculating the difference between the rate on the normal class and the 0.5%.
• The credit will show on the Statement of Account to reduce the employer’s liability to Revenue.

Are my employees eligible?

The scheme is available for employers who keep staff on their payroll during the period of the scheme (1 September 2020 to 30 April 2022). The scheme will close to new employers from 1 January 2022.

There are no restrictions on taking on new employees or moving employees under a transfer of undertaking, once these are undertaken for legitimate business reasons and not to maximise subsidy claims.

Employees could be:

• Temporarily not working or

• On reduced hours or reduced pay (or both)

To get more information on how to make applications for new hires and seasonal workers access Revenue’s EWSS Guidelines (opens in a new tab)

If you're unsure whether your employees are eligible, you should calculate their qualifying earnings based on figures in the relevant payslips. An employee is considered eligible for EWSS if they qualify for a subsidy payment. Please check the EWSS Eligibility & Subsidy calculation below.

Note: It's important to check your employees are eligible for EWSS payments before processing them. If you submit multiple claims for ineligible employees, you may receive a Revenue compliance follow-up.

EWSS Eligibility & Subsidy

Note: The Weekly Gross Pay amount and the number of insurance weeks can determine whether a subsidy is payable.

Steps:

1. Calculate the Weekly Gross Pay for the relevant pay frequency (See pay frequencies below).

2. Obtain the Weekly Subsidy by comparing the Weekly Gross Pay against the table.

   Employee earnings	Level of subsidy
   Between €400 and €1,462 gross per week	€350
   Between €300 and €399.99 gross per week	€300
   Between €203 and €299.99 gross per week	€250
   Between €151.50 and €202.99 gross per week	€203
   Less than €151.50 or more than €1,462 gross per week	€0

3. Multiply Weekly Subsidy by the number of insurance weeks to obtain the Total Subsidy.

Read more about insurance weeks

Weekly paid employees

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 0 and less than or equal to 5

• Divide gross pay by insurable weeks

If the employee's insurable weeks are less than or equal to 0

• No subsidy payable

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 5

• No subsidy payable

Gross Pay on payslip	Insurable Weeks	Weekly Gross Pay	Weekly Subsidy	Total Subsidy
€345.00	1	€345.00	€300.00	€300.00
€345.00	2	€172.50	€203.00	€406.00

Fortnightly paid employees

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 0 and less than or equal to 5

• Divide gross pay by insurable weeks

If the employee's insurable weeks are less than or equal to 0

• No subsidy payable

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 5

• No subsidy payable

Gross Pay on payslip	Insurable Weeks	Weekly Gross Pay	Weekly Subsidy	Total Subsidy
€851.75	2	€425.88	€350.00	€700.00
€851.75	3	€283.92	€250.00	€750.00

Four weekly paid employees

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 0 and less than or equal to 9

• Divide gross pay by insurable weeks

If the employee's insurable weeks are less than or equal to 0

• No subsidy payable

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 9

• No subsidy payable

Gross Pay on PSR	Insurable Weeks	Weekly Gross Pay	Weekly Subsidy	Total Subsidy
€1,000.00	4	€250.00	€250.00	€1,000.00
€1,000.00	5	€200.00	€203.00	€1,015.00

Monthly paid employees

If the employee's insurable weeks are 4 or 5

• (Gross pay *12) / 52

If the employee's insurable weeks are equal to 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 or 9

• Divide gross pay by insurable weeks

If the employee's insurable weeks are less than or equal to 0

• No subsidy payable

If the employee's insurable weeks are greater than 9

• No subsidy payable

Gross Pay on payslip	Insurable Weeks	Weekly Gross Pay	Weekly Subsidy	Total Subsidy
€3,451.21	4	€796.43	€350	€1,516.67
€3,451.21	5	€796.43	€350	€1,516.67
€3,451.21	6	€575.20	€350	€2,100.00

PRSI exempt employees

Where an employee is PRSI Exempt, the following calculation rules should apply:

Weekly

1. Gross pay / 1 = weekly gross pay
2. Weekly Subsidy multiplied by 1 to get total subsidy payable

Fortnightly

1. Gross pay / 2 = weekly gross pay
2. Weekly Subsidy multiplied by 2 to get total subsidy payable

Four Weekly

1. Gross pay / 4 = weekly gross pay
2. Weekly Subsidy * 4 = total subsidy payable

Monthly

1. (Gross pay * 12) / 52 = weekly gross pay
2. (Weekly Subsidy * 52) / 12 = total subsidy payable.

How do I process this in my Payroll?

Note: It's important to check your employees are eligible for EWSS payments before processing them. If you submit multiple claims for ineligible employees, you may receive a Revenue compliance follow-up.

Note: If you are still processing your employees with a J9 PRSI class, this must be changed back to their usual code. For more information, see our PRSI codes article.

1. Enter a pay run as normal.
2. Select an employee who is being paid under the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme.
3. Select Edit Tax Details.

4. Select the Eligible for EWSS check box then Save.

   

   Note: The Eligible for EWSS check box will only be available on Payruns with paydates between 01/09/2020 & 31/12/2021.

5. Repeat this process for any other eligible employees.

6. Complete the remaining steps in the pay run as normal.

How do I process a correction for EWSS?

If you have a pay period that is complete before the revenue system is able to accept the new EWSS Public Health Restriction selection, or before SBC Payroll has this option enabled, process your pay run as usual (this would only affect pay runs with pay dates between 1 February and 10 February 2022).

To submit the correct EWSS Public Health Restriction selection status for a completed pay run you can either:

• Edit a successful submission on the ROS website.

• Follow the steps below to add the EWSS Public Health Restriction selection to a completed pay run in SBC Payroll, then resubmit that pay run to Revenue.
  
  

Edit a completed pay run in SBC Payroll

1. Select the Pay Runs tab, then the relevant completed pay run.

2. Select Edit Pay Run.

   You now have access to the Edit Pay and Confirm Pay stages of the pay run.

3. Select the employee you need to add the EWSS Public Health Restriction selection too and select the Eligible for EWSS drop down.

4. Select the option that applies to your employee (Not eligible, EWSS or EWSS Public Health Restriction) and select Save.

5. Repeat this for any employees you need to amend.

6. Check the values are accurate, then select Next.

7. To confirm your changes, select View Summary, or select Back to amend your correction.
   

To resubmit the pay run to Revenue from SBC Payroll

1. Select the Pay Runs tab, then the relevant pay run you need to amend.

2. Under ROS Real Time Reporting a warning message appears advising you to resubmit.

3. Select View Details. A resubmission window opens and you’re prompted to enter your ROS login credentials.

4. Select Browse, then select your ROS Certificate (.P12) file, then Open.

5. Enter your ROS digital certificate password.

6. Check the values are correct and select Resubmit.

 

For more information about the EWSS changes announced in the Budget 2022 access the Citizens Information Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (opens in a new tab).