The Government has found a mechanism to enable businesses to provide top-up payments to staff above the €203 being provided through the new Employer Covid-19 Refund Scheme.
The new scheme enables employers to claim a refund of €203 a week per employee in circumstances where staff are temporarily laid off, but the firm continues to pay them at least that amount.
But businesses had complained that they had been told by Revenue that if they were able to and wanted to top-up that payment further from their own funds, they were not entitled to claim back the €203 from the state.
They argued that it would mean that some firms would have to stop paying staff completely, forcing those employees into a more precarious financial position.
Since the anomaly came to light, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has been working with Revenue, the Department of Finance and other agencies to try to find a solution to the problem.
This afternoon agreement was reached on a mechanism to allow employers top-up wages above the €203 and still claim the refund from the state.
The details of how the system will work are being finalised and will be published next week.
"This will further strengthen the viability of the scheme and ensure that many employers can provide some additional income above the basic social welfare payment for their workers," said Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty.
"The coronavirus outbreak is presenting unprecedented challenges to society and to state agencies but we are determined to meet each challenge with effective solutions and speed as much as we can and I am delighted that, in this regard, we have been able to address this issue."
Earlier, DublinTown, the organisation representing businesses in Dublin city centre, warned that unless top-ups were allowed thousands more jobs would be put at risk.
"Businesses who have nurtured and developed talented staff over many years are being forced into a position where they will be obliged to lay off these employees," it said in a statement.
"This will severely impact these companies' ability to resume functioning once the Coronavirus crisis passes, despite their willingness to keep staff on through company reserves and with personal savings in many cases."
While SIPTU General Secretary, Joe Cunningham had also called on the Government to amend the scheme by widening its scope and ensuring that workers and employers are given the support they need.
He said that not only does the scheme prohibit employers from providing additional support, or top-ups, it also further excludes hundreds of thousands of workers who are currently in employment but whose jobs are at risk.
"The State, in addition to paying €203 per week for employees, should provide an additional top-up to 75 percent of their current wage (for those in work or laid off), leaving the employer to pay the balance of 25 percent," he said.
"This would provide security for workers and significantly reduce employer costs during this emergency."
This was a view echoed earlier by employers group Ibec, which said across Europe a number of countries had put in place schemes to support the wages of workers in companies in the most at risk sectors at a rate of up to 75%.
