It was announced on 19 May 2020 that the online service to allow small and medium-sized employers to recover Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) payments that they have made to their employees in light of the COVID-19 pandemic will be launched on 26 May 2020.
Employers are eligible for the rebate scheme if they had a PAYE payroll scheme before 28 February and they had fewer than 250 employees before the same day.
Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
Under the scheme, employers will receive repayments for up to two weeks of SSP (at the relevant statutory rate) that they have paid to current or former employees for eligible periods of sickness starting on or after 13 March 2020. SSP is repayable if the employee was or is unable to work because they:
- have Coronavirus or symptoms;
- are self-isolating in accordance with Government Guidance and unable to work from home; or
- are shielding because they’ve been advised that they are at high risk of severe illness from Coronavirus.
Those employers wishing to make their claim on 26 May 2020 should keep records of all the SSP payments that they wish to claim from HMRC. There is additional information required to be provided at the time of making the claim as well as records that must be kept following receipt of the reimbursement.
There is currently no listed end date for the scheme.
Further information and guidance regarding the scheme can be found here
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You can contact our specialist Employment team on 0161 941 4000 or via email.
We also recommend paying close attention to any new government guidance at www.gov.uk and following our COVID-19 blog series.