SSP and Covid-19

What seems like a long time ago now, the government promised that statutory sick pay (SSP) will be payable from day 1 of illness (as opposed to from the 4th day of sickness as is usually the case) if the reason for the illness is coronavirus.  Employees are also entitled to SSP if they are shielding on the advice of the government or if they have to self-isolate because they are living with someone who has symptoms.  

In addition, the government have just now extended the entitlement to SSP to people who have been told to isolate under the new “Test and Trace” system which has just been announced.  

To date, it has been up to the employer to pay this upfront and claim the payments back at a later stage.  The government has finally published its guidance for employers on how to claim this back including what information they will need.  Employers have been reminded that they must keep records (which HMRC may later insect) for 3 years at least which must include:

• the dates the employee was off sick
• which of those dates were qualifying days 
• the reason they said they were off work – if they had symptoms, someone they lived with had symptoms or they were shielding
• the employee’s National Insurance number

They have also released an online check to see whether employers are eligible for a rebate.  

This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-back-statutory-sick-pay-paid-to-employees-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19

For any assistance on claiming these rebates or calculating SSP, please contact our Head of Employment, Ilinca Mardarescu