Manx Reskill Scheme
Introduction
The Manx Reskill Scheme has been introduced to:
- help people who have not worked due to illness for at least 12 months to return to work and
- provide financial support to businesses who wish to grow and take on new staff through the scheme
The eligibility conditions for individuals and employers wishing to participate in the scheme are set out below.
The Treasury’s Employment Services Team will match individuals who register with the scheme with potential employment opportunities.
Where an employer takes on an individual through this scheme on an open-ended contract of employment or fixed-term contract of not less than 12 months, the employer will be able to claim back from the Treasury:
- 100% of the employee’s gross salary for the first 6 months of employment
- 75% of their gross salary for months 7 – 9 and
- 50% of their gross salary for months 10 - 12
capped at the rate of the IOM living wage for up to 35 hours per week, by way of ‘Reskill Payments’.
More information about this is provided below.
Eligibility conditions for individuals (employees)
For an individual to be eligible to participate in the Scheme they must:
- be resident in the Isle of Man
- be aged 16 years or over, but below state pension age
- have been receiving incapacity-related benefits (or have had underlying entitlement to an incapacity-related benefit*) for at least the last 12 months
- make an application to the Manx Reskill Scheme
(*a person may have underlying entitlement to incapacity benefits if they have not been in receipt of incapacity related benefits, but have been signed off sick by a doctor for at least 12 months)
To register for the Scheme click the link below.
If you need any help or advice please contact the Employment Services Team by emailing them at reskill@gov.im
Eligibility conditions for employers
To qualify as an employer, the employer must be based in the Isle of Man and register for the Scheme with The Treasury.
Reskill payments
To be eligible for Reskill Payments an employer must:
- be matched with an individual through this Scheme
- provide them with an open-ended contract or fixed term contract of not less than 12 months
- not be a close relative* of the employee, if the employer is an unincorporated company
- confirm that the employee’s employment has not arisen due to, or would give rise to another person being made redundant or having their work hours reduced
- be based in the Isle of Man at the time of the claim and during the period of the matched individual’s employment
(*close relative for this purpose is defined as: a parent, parent-in-law, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, step-parent, step-son, step-daughter, brother, sister, spouse or civil partner).
To register as an employer for this scheme please complete the employer registration form.
To register a vacancy with this scheme please complete the vacancy registration form.
Eligible employers can claim Reskill Payments equal to:
- 100% of the matched individual’s gross wage or salary for the first 6 months of their employment
- 75% of their gross salary for months 7 – 9 and
- 50% of their gross salary for months 10 – 12
Employers can decide to pay the employee whatever hourly rate they like - provided it is at least the rate of the IOM minimum wage – however only up to the rate of the hourly living wage (or the relevant proportion of it for months 7 to 12) can be claimed as Reskill Payments.
An employer won’t be able to claim a Reskill Payment for more than one employee (or 5% of their workforce, whichever is higher) for any particular week.
Employers must make their claim for Reskill Payments within 3 months of the tax week for which the payment is claimed. Claim forms for this will be made available shortly.
You can contact the Employment Services Team by email to reskill@gov.im to request a paper application form or for help with applying for the scheme.
If an employer is dissatisfied with a determination made on their Reskill Payment application they can apply to the Treasury to have the determination reviewed and if they remain dissatisfied after that review they can appeal to the Chief Financial Officer against the determination. The Chief Financial Officer’s decision in the matter will be final.
It will be an offence to furnish false, incomplete or misleading information in connection with an application for a Reskill Payment, punishable on summary conviction by a limited fine or custodial sentence or both. Any Reskill Payments which have been paid as a consequence of that information being furnished may be recovered.
Other help for employers
Employers may be able to access Isle of Man Government support for any adaptations or aids that may be required to support the successful employment, as well as free training on Mental Health and Disability awareness. For more information email the Employment Services Team at reskill@gov.im
Employers can also obtain confidential assistance, advice and support on employment related matters from Manx Industrial Relations by contacting:
Manx Industrial Relations Service
Ground Floor, Imperial Buildings
Bath Place
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM1 2BY
Telephone: +44 1624 672942
Email: iro@mirs.org.im
Web: www.mirs.org.im
