The Government recently announced that, as a result of the impact of the pandemic on employee absences from work, employers are able to claim back Statutory Sick Pay (‘SSP’) paid to employees for absences due to COVID-19.
The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (‘CSSPRS’) is now open and claims can be made by following this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-back-statutory-sick-pay-paid-to-your-employees-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19. If we process your payroll for you, we will do this on your behalf as part of our payroll processing services. Please ensure you let the team know if any of your staff are off work due to COVID-19.
The Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will repay employers the SSP paid to employees who were off work on or after 21st December 2021. The scheme will allow you to claim back up to 2 weeks’ SSP if you have already paid your employee’s sick pay. The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks’ SSP, starting from the first qualifying day of sickness, if an employee is unable to work because they either:
• have COVID-19 symptoms;
• are self-isolating because someone they live with has symptoms;
• are self-isolating because they’ve been notified by the NHS or public health bodies that they’ve come into contact with someone with COVID-19; or
• have been notified by the NHS to self-isolate before surgery for up to 14 days.
You can make more than one claim per employee, but you cannot claim for more than 2 weeks in total.
Most people are asked to self-isolate for 3 days before surgery. In this case, the day of surgery will be the 4th day of their period of incapacity for work. You cannot claim repayment of SSP for the day of surgery or any other days when the absence is not due to COVID-19.
A ‘qualifying day’ is a day an employee usually works on. The weekly rate is £96.35. If you’re an employer who pays more than the weekly rate of SSP, you can only claim up to the weekly rate.
If you have any queries about Statutory Sick Pay then, as always, please feel free to get in touch.