Coronavirus Hub
Coronavirus Hub

The latest guidance for business

The CBI has compiled the latest guidance for businesses like yours across a number of different areas. Understand more about how your business can respond and what support is available to you. 


Most frequently asked questions


What are the most useful things that all businesses in the UK can do to prepare for coronavirus?

  • Ensure governance and HR teams are familiar with government advice for employers 
  • Consider establishing a team to manage the response, with representatives from finance, HR, legal, governance, commercial and any international offices 
  • Communicate with employees in a calm fashion, providing government advice as relevant for your business 
  • Reach out to the CBI to communicate any specific concerns or impacts of coronavirus on your company, for communication to the government’s response teams 
  • Check your firm has considered all the questions on the below Frequently Asked Questions and takes proportionate actions to manage coronavirus.  

Where can I find details about the financial support available for my business?

  • You can find information about the different financial support schemes, and see which ones your business is eligible for, here. 
  • The government have created a coronavirus business support finder tool. By completing a simple questionnaire, the tool will signpost you to relevant government financial support available.

What specific support can I receive as a large or a small business?

  • The CBI has published detailed guidance on the support available to large businesses and to small businesses here.

How do the Job Support Schemes work?

  • The Job Support Scheme (JSS) will see employees paid up to 77% of their pay, and will start on 1 November, lasting for 6 months.
  • Companies will continue to pay employees for time worked, but the cost of hours not worked will be split between the employer, the government (through wage support) and the employee (through a wage reduction), and the employee will keep their job.
  • The government will pay a third of hours not worked up to a cap, with the employer also contributing a third. This will ensure employees earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages, where the Government contribution has not been capped.
  • Employers using the Job Support Scheme will also be able to claim the Job Retention Bonus if they meet the eligibility criteria.
  • You can find out more details about this scheme here.

How should businesses support flexible working for employees who can work from home?

  • The government has asked all employees to work from home unless it is impossible for them to do so. Businesses should therefore support flexible working as much as reasonably possible when working remotely
  • Employers should encourage managers and employees with caring responsibilities to speak about any additional flexibility they may need during the day. This could be allowing employees to work reduced hours or flex their hours to work around their caring arrangements
  • Employers should be sympathetic to any distractions that may arise at home, such as children or pets moving around or making noise
  • Employees’ performance and productivity should be reasonably appraised while working at home, and businesses should consider relaxing performance management where appropriate
  • The CIPD have published top tips for managing remote teams, which can be found here. 

How should businesses support flexible working for employees who cannot work from home?

  • Where it is not possible for individuals to work from home, employers should adapt their practices to observe a distance of at least two metres between individuals wherever possible
  • Employers should consider staggering shifts and processes to enable staff to continue operating both effectively and at a safe distance wherever possible. More information can be found here
  • As well as ensuring the health and safety of staff, these practices can increase opportunities for more flexible working. Depending on the nature of the business, employers are considering the following practices:  
    • Time-banking to allow workers to ‘accrue hours’ to take as time off at a later date, outside of their usual shift pattern
    • Introducing condensed shift patterns whereby employees are able to work their total contracted hours over fewer working days
    • Leveraging annualised hours contracts, by allowing workers to reduce the number of hours they’re working during the pandemic but still work the same number of total hours over the year
    • Splitting teams so that operations run below full capacity at any given time
    • Enabling individuals to take annual leave during this period.   

What is the Job Retention Bonus?

  • The government announced on 8 July that it will introduce a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end to January 2021. Further details on this will become available in due course.  

  • Government and financial support

    Covering topics including tax payments, support for the self-employed, the Job Retention Scheme and commercial tenancies.

    Find out more

  • Emergency legislation and local restrictions

    Answering questions about new local restrictions and what policies the government has both introduced and delayed introducing.

    Find out more

  • Employment

    Covering topics including supporting staff at risk of redundancy, pension schemes, holidays, migrant workers and SSP. 

    Find out more

  • Meetings, travel and events

    Answering your questions about external meetings, travel nationally and internationally, and how to help employees stuck abroad.

    Find out more

  • Cleaning and health in the workplace

    Addressing topics including what to do if staff or visitors become unwell, and workplace cleaning guidance.

    Find out more

  • Supply chain

    Find out more about how other companies are managing disruption to their supply chains.

    Find out more

CBI factsheets

Always up-to-date with the latest information and insights, our factsheets can help inform your business response.

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Case studies

How have other businesses risen to the challenges posed by COVID-19?

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External resources

Quick links to the resources you need to coordinate your response



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