Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS)

When was an employee eligible?

The TWSS was initially confined to employees:

• who were on the employer’s payroll as at 29 February 2020
• and
• for whom a payroll submission was made to Revenue in the period from 1 February to 15 March 2020.

If you were claiming Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP)

If you were claiming the PUP from the Department of Social Protection (DSP), you could not be included in the TWSS. If you had been previously laid off and rehired, you qualified for the TWSS when your DSP claim ceased.

If you were not on the payroll on 29 February 2020

Following announcements by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Revenue implemented changes to the TWSS. These changes accommodated employees returning to work who were not on their employer’s payroll on 29 February 2020.

If you returned to work following a specific period of absence

After an announcement on 29 May 2020, your employer could include you if you were returning to work:

• following a period of Maternity, Adoptive, Paternity, Parental or related unpaid leave
• having been in receipt of, for the month of February 2020, a payment by the DSP for:
  • Health and Safety
  • Parent's Benefit
  • Illness Benefit.

Revenue applied the TWSS retrospectively to whichever was the latest of:

• the date of return to employment
• 26 March 2020.

If you were an apprentice returning to work

After an announcement on 23 June 2020, your employer could include you if you were:

• on an apprenticeship education and training programme run by SOLAS
• and
• not on your main employer’s payroll in February 2020.

Revenue applied the TWSS retrospectively to whichever was the latest of:

• the date of return to employment
• the date the employer joined the TWSS
• 26 March 2020.

Next: Subsidy rates in the transitional phase