The coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Scheme launches online on 26 May 2020, which will enable employers with less than 250 employees, or tax agents acting on behalf of employers, to claim back coronavirus-related Statutory Sick Pay.
Employers are eligible to use the scheme if:
they’re claiming for an employee who’s eligible for sick pay due to coronavirus
they had a PAYE payroll scheme in operation before 28 February 2020
they had fewer than 250 employees across all PAYE schemes on 28 February 2020
they’re eligible to receive State Aid under the EU Commission Temporary Framework.
The repayment will cover up to two weeks of the applicable rate of SSP, and is payable if a current or former employee was unable to work on or after 13 March 2020 and entitled to SSP, because they either:
have coronavirus
are self-isolating and unable to work from home
are shielding because they’ve been advised that they’re at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.
For more information about eligibility and how employers can prepare to use the scheme, Employers can visit GOV.UK and search ‘Check if you can claim back Statutory Sick Pay paid to employees due to coronavirus (COVID-19)‘.
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Today during PM’s Questions, the Prime Minister said people who self-isolate are helping to protect others from the virus and should not be “penalised for doing the right thing”. He went on to say, “I can today announce that the health secretary will bring forward, as part of our emergency coronavirus legislation, measures to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick instead of four days under the current rules. And I think that’s the right way forward. Nobody should be penalised for doing the right thing.”
The aim of this emergency legislation is to ensure people with coronavirus do not feel financial pressure to come into work and risk spreading the disease and should therefore only apply to those who have coronavirus opposed to those who choose to self-isolate as a precaution, but this is still unclear.
Although the full details of the emergency legislation and the changes have not yet been revealed, these will no doubt follow in the coming days but we understand at this stage that the change will only be temporary during the period of the coronavirus outbreak, but in the meantime it may effectively apply to all illnesses.
Quite obviously there will be immediate implications for Employers, not least an increase in sick pay costs (employers have been unable to reclaim SSP since April 2014 when the Percentage Threshold Scheme (PTS) was scrapped) but there are potential future implications too. There is every likelihood that unions will argue these new rules should apply to all illnesses, all the time, not just because of the coronavirus outbreak and it could lead to renewed calls for a full review of the current SSP scheme which unions have often said doesn’t protect workers who don’t earn enough to qualify for SSP and doesn’t pay enough for those that do.
This was evidenced in comments made by Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC following today’s government announcement when she said it was ““an important step but not enough.” She went on to say, “Two million workers still don’t earn enough to qualify for statutory sick pay. They can’t afford not to work. And statutory sick pay still isn’t enough to live on.”
Today in the UK we have seen the biggest day-on-day increase in coronavirus cases, bringing the total number to 87 and all indications are these numbers will continue to rise putting more pressure on businesses across the UK, and beyond.
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